Infinity Verse Team-Ups
by TheBaneOfHumanity
Summary: (INFINITY VERSE) They say that alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much. Now, witness tales of heroism and even villainy that show that the Infinity Verse very much aspires to that saying.
1. The Sailor Senshi and the Power Rangers

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, here we have the series I mentioned in my note for Ch 4 of Dark Phoenix. Now originally the team-ups were going to be on the Spotlights, but my collaborator and I ultimately agreed that they should be their own thing. So, anytime a story we have has two or more characters share the spotlight, they go here, with the exception of anything M rated. Those will all still go to MAX.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the properties you will see here. All rights go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Infinity Verse Team-Up

The Sailor Senshi and the Power Rangers: Love and Justice to the Tenth Power

* * *

Moments like these were starting to become rarer and rarer for the Power Rangers.

In the two years since the first time five teenagers with attitude morphed into the protectors of Angel Grove, the hardships of the typical teenage life suddenly became minuscule in comparison to battling swarms of Putties and giant monsters under the command of an evil warlord and wicked, thousand-year-old witch that lived on the Moon. It certainly didn't make things easier that all of this was happening to them at the peak of the dawn of the metahumans, meaning more and more threats rose up to join the likes of Zedd and Rita. All the more fortunate that they were accepted into the Infinity League to make new friends and allies that had their back.

Even so, it was a nice change of pace for them during the rare times they could just hang out at the Juice Bar in the Youth Center and discuss the things most other teenagers would talk about. Schoolwork, extracurricular activities, stressing over impending SAT's, etc. Made even better for them was the even rarer times it also happened to be Jason, Zack and Trini's day off from their new Infinity League duties. **[1]**

"Ugh, I think I might've bombed that algebra test, guys," Aisha groaned as she placed a hand on her forehead. "I don't even get it. How come I can throw daggers at Putties with no problem but my brain just freezes when it tries to solve for Y?"

"Well, to be fair, I'd probably take a couple of Putties over Mr. Saban any day," Zack remarked. "Dude's tests are relentless!"

"I know, right?" Rocky responded. "Half the time I end up going cross-eyed just trying to read it."

Trini was about to continue this conversation further when she noticed something about Kimberly. She turned to her and saw that the bearer of the Pterodactyl Power Coin was just looking down at her beverage, simply stirring it with her straw and allowing the ice to melt. All while she had a disinterested look in her eyes. Odd, considering she was usually the most upbeat and positive of the eight of them.

"Kim?" Trini quietly called out.

"Hm?" the Pink Ranger replied.

"You okay?" the Yellow Ranger asked.

"Oh, yeah, just..." Kimberly answered.

"Still worried about Tommy?" Adam questioned.

The valley girl only gave a small nod in response. Despite this being a rare occasion where most of the Rangers managed to get together, there was still one that couldn't make it. After being temporarily benched from the League thanks to these surreal dreams he had been receiving, Tommy, slightly bitter over the League leader's decision and wanting to seek the meaning behind these dreams, had been meeting with the other League members that shared these dreams regularly at Steven's Beach House in Beach City, with the exception of one of their newest members, Sailor Mars. [1] Because of this, he was unable to join the other Rangers in this get-together.

Even though she knew the leaders were only trying to help the heroes affected and would never intentionally do this for no reason at all, Kimberly still couldn't help but question their course of action. Not only would this mean both the Rangers and the rest of the League would be short-handed, but what happens if this potentially evil-force strikes at a time when they can't rely on the rest of the League to assist them? Especially if it did turn out to be Black Hat like they hypothesized? She wouldn't even dare think about what would happen to her boyfriend if that were to be, even with the power of the White Light at his command.

The strenuous task of her becoming the temporary new leader of the Rangers didn't help much with that either. It made sense for Tommy to pick her in his temporary absence, given the fact that she and Billy were the most experienced Rangers on the team, having been with them since the very beginning, and with Billy being better suited as the brains of the group, not to mention his place in the League's science division, she was the obvious pick. Even still, she was beginning to have a whole new respect for Tommy for managing to juggle so much all at once, despite the other Rangers agreeing that she was filling in for him perfectly fine.

"If it makes you feel any better, we're concerned about him t-" Billy attempted to reassure.

"Look, can we not talk about it right now?" Kimberly requested. "I-I really don't want to bring you guys down. Especially since we managed to get Jason, Trini, and Zack to join us."

"You sure?" Jason asked.

"Mm-hm," Kimberly answered. "Actually, speaking of which, how are-"

Her question was interrupted, however, at the sound of the five incumbent Rangers' communicators going off. Thankful that no one else seemed to have heard them, Billy reached for his and activated it.

"What is it, Zordon?" he asked.

"Goldar and Scorpina are launching an assault at downtown Angel Grove," the voice of the Rangers' mentor answered on the other side. "You must teleport to them immediately."

That took the eight of them aback. A full-fledged assault on the city wasn't usually Zedd or Rita's style. Usually the Putty Patrol was just utilized to ambush them while they sent out whatever monster they had concocted to do the real dirty work.

Right on cue, the sounds of explosions and screaming civilians could be heard from outside of the Juice Bar as Ernie started to assist the panicking patrons out of the Youth Center.

"We'll be there, ASAP," Aisha stated as she got out her own communicator.

"Be careful, Rangers!" Alpha 5 advised.

The five current Rangers got out of their chairs before dashing out of the building, all while Jason got out a communicator of his own: An Infinity League communicator.

"You guys hear that?" he asked.

"Loud and clear," Danny answered on the other side.

"We had our suspicions that Lord Zedd would attempt something of this degree in the White Ranger's absence," Optimus added. "Rest assured, the Rangers' back-up are already in the city."

* * *

Deep within downtown Angel Grove, six figures stood within an alleyway and witnessed as swarms of Putty soldiers started to run rampant throughout, knowing exactly what they needed to do.

"Ready, girls?" asked a Japanese girl with long, blonde hair that she wore in an odango.

"Ready!" the other five figures answered.

"Then let's transform!"

With that, four of them held out what appeared to be multi-colored pens upwards into the skies above while two of them simply raised their hands upward.

"Moon Cosmic Power..."

"Mercury Planet Power..."

"Mars Planet Power..."

"Jupiter Planet Power..."

"Venus Planet Power..."

"Moon Prism Power..."

"MAKE UP!"

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city...

"Let's do it, guys!" Kimberly shouted.

"Right!" the other four Rangers replied.

And with that, the five of them grabbed their Morphers and thrust them forward.

"It's Morphin Time!"

"Mastadon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabretooth tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

* * *

The downtown area of Angel Grove had descended into chaos. Buildings burned, cars were turned over, civilians ran for their lives, and amidst it all, Putty Patrol soldiers continued to spread the madness further and further, with their commanders, Goldar and Scorpina, leading them. All in an effort to draw out their most hated of enemies.

"Do not stop until we have drawn those wretched Power Rangers out to save their precious city!" Goldar commanded. "Burn it to the ground, if you must!"

A group of cops then attempted to fire upon the Putties that responded to Goldar's orders, only for their bullets to bounce off their chests as they advanced closer. Seeing that the odds were getting more and more against their favors, they quickly attempted to fall back, only for one of the Putties to grab one of the officers by the collar of his uniform and toss him towards its leaders.

"Frank!" one of the female cops shouted in terror.

She tried to make a run for her colleague, only for two of the Putties to tackle her to the ground.

"What is taking the Rangers so damn long?" Scorpina chided to herself before looking upward, no doubt to address her superiors. "Lord Zedd, the Power Rangers still haven't arrived to these humans' aid."

* * *

"Patience, Scorpina," Lord Zedd responded, gazing upon the Earth from his and Rita Repulsa's fortress, his wicked wife by his side. "If there's one thing that those meddlesome Power Rangers can't avoid, it is a city in despair. And once they arrive to Angel Grove's aid, we shall finally crush them once and for all!"

The emperor of all he saw let out one of his traditional devious cackles...all while Rita looked far less enthusiastic or impressed by her husband's typical inflated ego.

"How many times did you say that now and it ended up blowing up in your face?" she dryly remarked. "Two thousand? Three?"

"It will be different this time!" Zedd snapped. "With the White Ranger now out of commission, their numbers and their strength have diminished greatly. And once we slay his friends, we can focus all of our efforts on their now teamless leader!"

"IF we can kill them, that is," Rita corrected. "And what about all these other heroes they have on speed-dial?! Did you ever stop to think about that?!"

"As a matter of fact, my dear, I have," Zedd answered as he turned to sit upon his throne. "If their new friends should come to their aid...well...let's just say that I have a little surprise waiting for them."

* * *

"I know what will speed this up," Goldar stated as he grabbed the officer by the back of his neck, positioning his sword at his head as he struggled to get him to let go.

"NO!" the female officer cried as she attempted to free herself from the Putties' hold.

"RANGERS!" Goldar shouted. "Will you continue to hide like the cowards, or will you come to this wretched Earthling's rescue?!"

The cop continued to struggle to free himself, but to no avail as the sword of the monster that subdued him reached closer and closer to his neck, ready to decapitate him at a moment's notice.

But then, just as the end drew near for him, help finally came. Not in the form of one of the Rangers' weapons or their blade blasters...but in the form of a tiara that sped through the backs of the Putties that held the female officer down, causing them to crumble to pieces. The tiara then smashed itself against Goldar's forehead, causing him to stumble backward and release the hold he had on the officer, allowing him and his colleague to dash for safety. A disgruntled Goldar quickly regained his focus and was about to charge after his prey once more when...

"Hold it right there!" a voice shouted.

The monstrous general ceased his pursuit, both he and Scorpina looking upward to see a figure standing tall and proud atop the roof of a building, a hand on her right hip, her blonde hair flowing in the wind, and the crescent Moon glowing radiantly behind her. The tiara that ambushed Goldar then flew to the figure's hand, who then placed it back onto her forehead.

"How DARE you creeps terrorize innocent lives to fuel your lust for chaos and destruction?!" the figure scolded.

"You're not a Power Ranger!" Scorpina pointed out.

"Reveal yourself!" Goldar demanded.

The figure then lept down to the streets below, landing gracefully to reveal...

"I am the pretty guardian who fights for love and for justice! I am Sailor Moon!"

* * *

Observing this new development caused Lord Zedd to instantly shoot up from his throne, all while Rita had a look of shock on her face.

"What?!" Zedd shouted. "The rumors were true?! The Princess of Silver Millenium still lives?!"

In a rare instance, however, Zedd calmed down when a thought came to his head. One that would make him smirk sinisterly if he had a mouth to do so.

* * *

"And now, in the name of the Moon..." Sailor Moon began as she got in the stance she gets in when she is about to confront evil. "...I'll punish you!"

"I don't care who you are! I will make sure you die screaming for this insolence!" Goldar bellowed.

The monstrous general then readied his sword once more as he was about to fly towards his new adversary when...

"WAIT!" the voice of Zedd ordered.

* * *

"...'Wait?!'" a dumbfounded Rita repeated.

"Of course, dear," Zedd replied. "We know Silver Millennium's ruins lie somewhere upon the very surface we stand on. We just haven't been able to find it. But now that we know Princess Serenity still lives, we can extract the location from her. And then, everything Queen Serenity left behind will be ours for the taking!"

The intergalactic warlord then swiftly turned back to his palace's balcony to speak to his subordinate once more.

"Goldar, I want the Princess alive! Subdue her and bring her to me!"

* * *

"Princess?" Goldar questioned before turning back to Usagi, a look of realization in his red eyes. "So, Princess Serenity of Silver Millennium still lives, eh?"

"Wait, how do you-" Usagi attempted to question, her eyes widening in surprise over the fact that this creature knew of her past life as she did so.

"Lord Zedd wanted you back alive...but he didn't say anything about bringing you to him in one piece," Goldar interrupted before flaring his wings, flashing his fangs, and grasping his sword tightly. "Consider this payback for your mother and Zordon locking me in that accursed dumpster ten thousand years ago!"

Sailor Moon had no time to question him any further about this second revelation before Goldar launched himself towards her. A quick yelp of fright escaped her lips, but she quickly composed herself. Had this occurred a few months ago, far earlier in Usagi's career as the champion of love and justice, she likely would have screamed in terror and tried to hide, possibly cry on top of all that. But Usagi wasn't the same overly-emotional teenager she was before. And with determination filling her bright blue hues, her Spiral Heart Moon Rod materialized in her hands a mere second before she deflected Goldar's own weapon just inches away from her heart.

The leader of the Sailor Senshi then shoved Goldar away from her using her weapon, knocking him off balance and allowing her to swing her Moon Rod against his head before kicking him square in the chest, sending him flying back to his forces. A visibly shocked Scorpina proceeded to point her sword towards Sailor Moon.

"Putty Patrol, capture her!" she ordered.

About a dozen Putties materialized around Usagi, causing her to yell out in surprise. She continued to stand her ground, albeit unsure if she could take down so many enemies on her own, when suddenly...

"Burning Mandala!"

Several fireballs rained down from above, hitting four of the Putties on the Z's in their chests, resulting in them disintegrating instantly. With a smile, Usagi turned to see her fellow Sailor Senshi, jumping down from a nearby rooftop and landing beside their leader, fresh fire emanating from Sailor Mars' hands.

"I see you've adapted to Jason's training sessions quicker than I thought, Sailor Moon," Rei remarked. **[1]**

"Thanks," Usagi cheerfully responded...only to then realize what her friend meant by that. "...Hey, wait a minute!"

"Guys, can we not do this right now?" Makoto countered. "Look!"

Both Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars turned to see more and more Putties forming by the second, each of them ready to charge towards the six of them, all while Goldar laughed maniacally and Scorpina smirked deviously.

"Increase your numbers all you want, it won't do you any good!" Goldar boasted. "We have an army at our beckon, and there are only six of you!"

"You sure about that, Goldar?" a voice suddenly interjected. "How 'bout we make it eleven?!"

Hearing the voice of one of his most detested enemies, Goldar let out an angered snarl as he, Scorpina and the Senshi looked up once more at another rooftop to see the five Power Rangers, fully morphed and standing triumphantly in the night sky. each of them proceeded to flip off of the roof one at a time, each of them landing to the Senshi's right and letting out a 'Hyah!' as they got into a battle stance.

"How quaint," Scorpina darkly remarked. "The Rangers have finally come to die with their new playmates."

"Sorry we're late," Kimberly said to her fellow heroes. "Had to assist some of the civilians out of the city."

"I'd say you guys were right on time, actually," Minako replied.

"You guys ready?" Usagi asked.

"Ready!" all five of the Rangers answered.

Sailor Moon then turned back to her enemies, her confidence never faltering...while inside her head she couldn't help but fangirl a bit over how she's always wanted to do this.

She and the other Senshi proceeded to cross their arms together while spreading their legs slightly before swinging their arms outward and shouting 'Hyah!' The Rangers responded by doing the same, but instead shouting 'Ki-yah!' The eleven heroes of Tokyo and Angel Grove stood before their oppressors, determined and ready to fight and win...Then, seemingly out of nowhere, color-coordinated jets of smoke shot out from behind them, the Rangers not even flinching at the sudden actions.

The Senshi, not so much.

"Huh?" the six of them asked at the same time.

All of a sudden, a large explosion was set off behind all eleven of them, causing the protectors of Japan to yell out in fright whilst ducking and covering. Again, much to their bewilderment, the Rangers didn't pay any attention to it.

"Let's do this!" Rocky shouted as he and the other Rangers charged to their enemies, Blade Blasters at the ready.

"Is...Is no one going to address that?" a confused Ami questioned as she turned to try and find the source of the explosion, only to find nothing at all. "...No?"

The other five Sailor Senshi simply shrugged before they and Ami ran to join the Rangers in battle.

Usagi, Chibiusa and Rocky each tried to dash towards Goldar and Scorpina, only for a group of Putties to land right in front of them.

"Aim for the Z's!" Rocky reminded as he readied his Power Sword.

"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" Sailor Chibi Moon called out.

The small lady then pointed her Pink Moon Rod towards the enemy foot soldiers, a ring of energy projectiles shaped like hearts forming around her before shooting onwards towards her targets, knocking them on their backs. Three of them made their marks on the Putties' insignias, causing them to break apart and disintegrate.

"Leaving only the fresh scent of Pine," Rocky remarked before slicing a Putty in half with his sword.

Suddenly, one of the Putties jumped onto the Red Ranger's back, only for him to grab it by the shoulders.

"Head's up, Sailor Moon!"

With one swift hurl, he tossed the Puttie into the air before Sailor Moon blasted it to pieces with a small blast of energy from her Heart Moon Rod. A new trick she had learned during her time with the Infinity League to improve her and the Senshi's typical strategies.

"Bullseye!" she cheered.

Her victory was short-lived, however, when a duo of Putties tried to tackle her to the ground. She was able to kick one of them off her person, but the other managed to glock her in the face. Before it could continue its offensive though, Rocky flew in to her rescue, kicking it away.

"You alright?" he asked as he assisted Usagi back on her feet.

"Yeah," she answered. "Thanks."

Suddenly, more Putties started to surround them, forcing them to go back-to-back against each other. As they closed in, Sailor Moon turned to the Red Ranger, smirking and nodding once, Rocky giving a nod back in response. The second the Putties charged towards the two heroes, the two of them kicked the ones that were in front of them square in the Z insignia, taking them out. Usagi followed by punching the next one in the face before shooting it down with her Moon Rod. Rocky, meanwhile, delivered a spin kick that took out two of Zedd's foot soldiers at the same time before thrusting his sword into another. Usagi then blocked one of the Putties' attempts to punch her in the face and headbutted it into one of its fellow foot soldiers.

"Red, behind you!" she advised before flipping into the air while the two Putty Patrollers charged towards her.

Hearing his cue, Rocky instantly turned around, catching the Putties by surprise, before shooting them down with his Blade Blaster. The second the reincarnated Moon Princess got back on her feet, she and the bearer of the Red Power Coin continued their defensive against the slew of Putties.

While that was going on, Billy and Ami were also in the middle of holding off the foot soldiers of Lord Zedd.

"I'd enhance the visual sensors on your helmet right now if I were you!" Sailor Mercury warned the Blue Ranger as she blocked and punched one of the Putties away from her.

"Already done!" Billy replied as he swiped his Power Lance through another of the nefarious soldiers.

"Shabon..." Ami began as an orb of energy started to form in the palms of her hands. "...Spray!"

With that, she lashed out both of her arms, a barrage of bubbles being sent throughout the area both she and Billy were in, which then began to form a thick fog that surrounded the Putties. Blinded and confused, the evil soldiers attempted to try and find their targets, one of them hastily swinging its fist only to knock over one of its fellow Putties. Then, without warning, the Blue Ranger's Power Lance flew out of the fog and into one of the Putties. Ami, her Mercury Goggles now deployed to help her see, then lept out of the mist she had crafted and grabbed the lance, driving it deeper through the Puttie it had stabbed, eventually making it to another's chest.

Once both Putties crumbled, two more attempted to charge into the guardian of wisdom, only for Billy jump in from above and land in front of them and knock both of them to the ground. The two of them rolled backward and jumped back on their feet, joined by five more of their fellow warriors.

"Mercury, now!" the Blue Ranger called out before leaping back into the fog.

"Mercury Aqua Mirage!" the Senshi shouted.

She lifted both hands upward, a globe of water forming before she shot it towards her targets, splitting into seven streams as it did so. The panicking Putties had no time to react before the streams shot through their chests, destroying them upon impact while the fog finally started to fade.

"Excellent shot!" Billy complimented with a thumbs up.

"Thanks," Ami replied.

The brains of both groups' celebration was cut short, though, as even more Putties started to form around them, catching them off guard slightly.

"These things just don't know when to quit, do they?" Sailor Mercury questioned as she tossed one of Zedd's soldiers away.

"Affirmative," the Blue Ranger answered, blocking a Putty's kick before punching it in the chest.

Meanwhile, over with Kimberly and Rei...

"Fire Soul!" Sailor Mars called.

A burst of fire ignited out of her index fingers, incinerating a trio of Patrollers in an instant. No sooner had she done that though did two more try to get the jump on her from behind. She quickly ducked down, allowing them to miss their target before swiftly kicking the two of them across their faces. As they stumbled, two arrows suddenly came from Rei's right, making their marks on the Putties' chests. The surprised guardian of war turned just in time to see the Pink Ranger block a kick from another Putty with her Power Bow before jabbing an arrow into its insignia.

"Think it's time we test that new weapon of yours," Kimberly suggested as she punched a Putty Patroller with the back of her hand that attempted to tackle her from behind.

Nodding once, Sailor Mars quickly pulled out something that was on her back: A crossbow. In the time she had been with the League, Rei decided that it would likely be wise to have some sort of weapon to utilize in the likely event of her Senshi abilities being drained or when the situation called for a much less powerful solution. Due to her archery skills, a crossbow was the obvious pick, and had the science division forge one for her, with Luna and Artemis reconfiguring her transformation pen to allow it to form on her back when she turns into Sailor Mars. It took her a while to adjust to a more modern weapon as opposed to a traditional bow and arrow, but with special training sessions courtesy of the Pink Ranger, she eventually became quite skilled with it. Minako also liked this idea and had the same done with her, but with a sword as her choice of weapon.

Once she got out her new weapon, she wasted no time firing an arrow directly towards one of the Putties that was charging towards her, the force of impact so great that it went through its chest and proceeded to strike down one of its comrades. Once they were down, Rei then quickly pulled another arrow from a quiver that was also strapped to her back and loaded it before taking down another of the nefarious foot soldiers.

However, upon attempting this process again, a Putty managed to grab her from behind and toss her into a wall. Letting out a painful grunt as she landed, Sailor Mars started to get back on her feet, only to see four Putties coming at her. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Kimberly lept into action, driving an arrow through one of the Putties before kicking another in the chest. She then blocked a punch from the third and uppercutted it in the Z before spin kicking the last one, which attempted to grasp her shoulders.

Once the Putties were taken care of, the Pink Ranger went to the Senshi of fire and assisted her back up.

"Slowpoke," Kimberly playfully remarked.

Rei's response, much to the bearer of the Pink Power Coin's surprise, was to aim her crossbow above her left shoulder and shoot down a Putty that was barreling towards the two of them.

"Missed a spot," Rei countered with a smirk.

With a chuckle, Kimberly patted Rei's shoulder in a friendly manner before the two of them charged back into battle.

Over with Adam and Makoto, the Senshi of thunder was rapidly kicking one of her attackers in the chest before delivering a powerful roundhouse that caused it to burst into pieces, some of which knocked down some of the other Putties. Another attempted to jump at her from her right, only for her to deflect the incoming punch and grab it by the arm. The Putty had no time to so much as flinch in terror before Mako hurled it upwards towards her ally.

"Black Ranger, on your left!" she called out.

Adam was in the midst of kicking one of the foot soldiers away from him when he heard Jupiter's warning. He then grasped the handle of his Power Axe and leaped upward, slicing the Putty Makoto had thrown vertically in half. The second he landed on the ground, he quickly ducked down to avoid an aerial kick from another Patroller before punching a second one in the Z insignia, destroying it. Sailor Jupiter, meanwhile, flipped upward and brought her heel down upon one of her enemies before noticing three Putties running towards her. Smirking with confidence, she brought her hands together, sparks emanating from the rod on her tiara.

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" she shouted as she brought both of her hands back before launching a disc of electrical energies towards the Putties, obliterating all three of them upon hitting the central one's chest.

"Going, going, and they're gone!" Adam remarked as he observed the pieces of the Putties flying further and further away.

"Straight out of the ballpark," Makoto added, placing a hand on her hip as she did so.

She then turned to face her comrade, only for her to see something that instantly caused her to gasp in fright.

"Behind you!" she exclaimed.

The guardian of courage quickly dashed to the Black Ranger and shoved him away right before Scorpina fired an energy blast from the gauntlet in her left hand. Mako quickly forged a barrier around her made of electricity to try and protect her, but the impact of the energy blast still caused her to fly into a nearby wall harshly.

"Sailor Jupiter!" Adam called out in concern, only to then hear Scorpina speak to him as she approached him.

"Adam, darling, it's been so long since our little 'date,'" Scorpina darkly mocked. "Did you miss me?"

"Like chickenpox," Adam retaliated as he readied his Power Axe.

He then charged towards the general of Rita and Zedd's forces, swinging his weapon down upon her, only for her to easily block it with her Scorpion Fin. Taking advantage of this, Scorpina swung her own weapon to her left, forcing Adam to let go of his Power Axe and resulting in it flying into a nearby empty car. The Black Ranger barely had any time to react before Scorpina backhanded him, causing him to stumble away from her.

"Why don't we make this more interesting, Black Ranger?" the evil general asked.

While that was going on, Makoto saw what was unfolding as she got back on her feet and was about to sprint to Adam's rescue, only for Goldar to land right in front of her, seven Putties forming around her as he did so.

"And where do you think you're going, Sailor Jupiter?" Goldar growled.

Rather than be intimidated over the fact that she was now outnumbered and surrounded, Mako instead got into a fighting stance, glaring right into the red eyes of the monster that stood before her.

"To his aid," she answered. "But not before I send you flying back to Oz crying, 'my pretty.'"

"Rrrr, kill her!" Goldar angrily ordered, pointing his sword towards the Senshi as he did so.

The Putties then ran towards her, all while sparks started to form in Mako's hands.

While that was going on, Aisha was busy throwing one of her Power Daggers at one of the evil foot soldiers, driving it into its chest. She then lept towards it, kicking it further into its body, destroying it. However, her victory was short-lived, as she turned to see eight more Putties running towards her. The Yellow Ranger readied herself for another throwdown, only for a golden chain to wrap around the Patrollers. The confused henchmen of Zedd and Rita could do nothing before...

"Crescent Beam Shower!" Sailor Venus yelled.

Aisha turned to her right just in time to see a golden beam shoot out of Minako's right index finger before splitting into several separate beams, each of them making their marks on seven of the Putties' Z's. The sole spared Putty attempted to make a run for it, clearly frightened by this display of power.

"Hold on now, I'm not done with you," Mina remarked.

She then shot out her chain towards the Putty, which proceeded to wrap around its waist and force it to stop in its tracks. The guardian of beauty flew upwards, ringing her opponent into the air as she did so, before swinging her chain up and above her head.

"Going down!"

Once she brought her weapon downward, she released her hold on the Putty, causing it to rocket downwards into the ground and shatter upon making contact with the ground. Minako then flew back down and landed in front of Aisha just as she disposed of another of the Putties.

"Nice one!" the Yellow Ranger complimented as she high-fived the guardian of beauty.

Minako was just about to thank her when the two of them noticed more Putties starting to form around them.

"Don't hatch your chickens before they count, Yellow," the Senshi advised.

All Aisha could do was slowly turn her head in utter confusion towards her ally, Mina practically seeing the look on her face behind her helmet.

"Heheh, or something like that," she sheepishly added.

Once the Putties came at the two of them, they swiftly reacted by swinging their right leg into the closest one before Aisha punched another to pieces while Minako pulled a sword from her back and decapitated a fourth Putty. She then quickly thrusted her sword into its chest before spin kicking another of the evil foot soldiers that tried to get the jump on her from behind. The Yellow Ranger, meanwhile, was shooting her Blade Blaster at two of the Putties, destroying one, before stabbing the second once it managed to make it through.

Suddenly, one Putty charged towards Aisha, only for Chibiusa to leap onto its back and begin punching it in the face. The foot soldier tried desperately to get the small lady off of it, eventually resorting to backing itself quickly towards a wall. Before making impact, however, Sailor Chibi Moon jumped off of the Putty, allowing it to only smash itself against the wall, before firing a blast from her Pink Moon Rod directly at its Z in mid-air, destroying it.

"Sailor Chibi Moon!" Kimberly called out as Chibiusa landed on her feet.

The girl from the future turned around upon hearing the Pink Ranger to see her, Rocky, Usagi, and Rei disposing of the last of a group of Putties that tried to attack them.

"Jupiter and the Black Ranger are in trouble!" Usagi continued. "They need our help!"

Nodding once in compliance, Chibiusa dashed towards the others to join them as they ran towards Adam and Makoto. As they did so, even more Putties materialized in front of them.

"Okay, now this is just getting annoying," Rei stated.

"Try fighting these things on a day-to-day basis," Rocky added.

"Let's hit 'em with everything we've got!" Kimberly said, determined to not allow these things to interfere any further.

With that command given out, she, Rocky, Usagi, and Chibiusa got out their Power Bow, Blade Blaster, Spiral Heart Moon Rod, and Pink Moon Rod respectively while Rei rotated her arm in a clockwise direction, flames gushing out of her hand as it formed a ring of eight balls of fire.

"Burning...Mandala!"

She then thrusted both of her hands forward as the spheres shot towards the Putties, destroying five of them once they impacted their bodies and caused them to explode. This, in turn, gave the others much fewer targets to worry about as Kimberly, Rocky, Usagi and Chibiusa all started to shoot down Putties left and right. Sailor Mars then noticed one of them picking up a large piece of rubble and tossing it at her. Fortunately, she reacted just in time by sliding underneath it and getting out her crossbow as she did so. She shot the Putty in the head before getting back on her feet and flipping up and over her enemy, driving an arrow through its back with her head.

"I don't recall teaching you that one," Kimberly playfully stated as she shot down more of Zedd's henchmen.

"I decided to combine some of the stuff you taught me with some of Jason's teachings," Rei stated.

"Morphenominal!" an impressed Pink Ranger complimented.

Back with Sailor Jupiter, she was occupied with grabbing one of the Putties while electricity coursed through her hand, electrocuting it before tossing it to one of its fellow foot soldiers, causing the two of them to explode with sparks flying everywhere. She was then able to punch one of them in the chest, destroying it, only for Goldar to swing his sword down upon her. Acting quickly, she dashed out of his way before he could slice her in two, only for him to punch her square in the face with such force that it sent her flying into the car where Adam's Power Axe had lodged itself into. She started getting back on her feet when she noticed Goldar charging towards her.

Running low on options, Makoto turned to the Black Ranger's weapon and had an idea form in her head. One she hoped wouldn't backfire on her tremendously, but if she was to stand a chance against the creature barreling towards her, she might need to take the risk.

"For Lord Zedd!" Goldar shouted as he jumped up, ready to decapitate Mako with one swing of his sword.

The Senshi of thunder, however, then grabbed the Power Axe and used it to block Goldar's offensive, the antenna on her tiara rising as she did so. The two of their blades locked as the general of Lord Zedd's blade inched closer and closer to Mako's neck.

"You ready to see sparks fly, ugly?" Mako asked. "Supreme...THUNDER!"

No sooner had she said that did a bolt of lightning cast down upon the two of them, Sailor Jupiter taking the impact as if nothing had happened while her adversary was sent flying away, crying out in pain. However, Makoto did not direct that bolt towards the two of them specifically.

For it was the Power Axe that took the true brunt of the impact.

As she got back on her feet, electricity surged throughout both her and her borrowed weapon, her eyes appearing completely white with power as she readied herself for whatever offensive comes next. It came in the form of Goldar, furiously flying to her. However, this time, he would not get the jump on the guardian of courage so easily. For in response, Mako thrusted the axe forward, a bolt of electrical energies shooting out of it and making its mark on Goldar, causing him to be sent flying away once again.

She then turned to Adam's continuing fight against Scorpina, the latter managing to slash her blade upon the former, sparks coming out of the point of impact as he fell to the ground. Sailor Jupiter quickly bolted towards them, only for several Putties to greet her. She reacted by tossing the Power Axe towards them, causing it to spin rapidly as it hacked three of them in two. Makoto then pulled her arm back, allowing the thunderous power that flowed through both her and the weapon to pull it back to her hand.

Once she reached the remaining Putty Patrollers, Sailor Jupiter quickly ducked to avoid a punch courtesy of one of them and sliced its arm off with the axe. She then punched at the Z in its chest to finish the job before slashing her new weapon into another Putty. Afterward, she swung the Power Axe underhanded, causing a torrent of lightning to explode from the pavement and make its way to the remaining Putties, causing them to explode upon impact.

Those that were previously running to her aid could only gaze upon the sight with awe.

"...Maybe they should've brought HER Thanos," Rocky remarked.

Hearing the Red Ranger's jest, Makoto quickly turned to her allies.

"C'mon, guys!" she called out. "The Black Ranger still needs our help!"

"Right!" the others replied.

The six of them then charged towards the ensuing brawl against Adam and Scorpina, only for them to hear something in the distance. They turned their heads just in time to see Goldar shoot out of the pile of debris he was buried in, roaring in contempt.

"Oh my God, seriously?" Mako groaned.

"You guys help the Black Ranger!" Usagi said. "Red and I will take care of Chim-Chim over there."

She and Rocky then broke off to handle Goldar, Sailor Moon shooting a beam of energy from her weapon at him as he swooped downward to the duo.

Meanwhile, Adam had taken a direct hit from Scorpina's Scorpion Fin, the energies from the Morphing Grid coursing through him preventing him from being hacked in half, but the impact still resulted in him flying up against a wall harshly. Groaning in pain, he started to get back on his feet when he noticed Scorpina slowly making her way towards her, grinning sadistically as she did so. Not one to back down, Adam quickly reached for his Blade Blaster and readied himself once more for his enemy's offensive. Scorpina was about to deliver said offensive when...

"Hey, Scorpina!" the voice of Sailor Jupiter echoed.

The general of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa turned to see the Senshi of thunder, Rei and Kimberly behind her, leap upward into the air as thunderous energy coursed through both her and Adam's Power Axe. Catching on to what his newfound ally was about to do, Adam quickly teleported to the top of the building he was up against while Scorpina wasn't looking.

"Eat lightning, you bitch!" Mako continued.

She then barreled down towards Scorpina, the axe raised above her head, prompting both Rei and Kimberly to slide to a stop in a panic.

"Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, get back, get back!" Kimberly shouted as she and Sailor Mars quickly backed away.

Scorpina too reacted in fright as her eyes widened upon the sight of Makoto descending towards her. She rapidly made an attempt to flee, but the second the Power Axe slammed against the ground, a massive electrical explosion detonated outwards, catching the villainous general as she ran, sending her flying through the wall of a nearby building. Once the sparks finally dissipated, Kimberly teleported to the top of the building Adam fleed to while Rei turned to her friend with an unenthused look on her face.

"Mind giving us a warning next time, Mako?" she asked.

"Heh, heh, sorry, Rei," Sailor Jupiter sheepishly answered as she placed her free hand on the back of her head. "Might've gotten a bit carried away there."

While that was going on, Kimberly was busy assisting Adam back to his feet.

"You okay, Adam?" the Pink Ranger questioned.

"Could've been worse," Adam answered. "Just a couple of bruises here and there."

The sounds of thunder cracking caught the two Rangers off guard, prompting them to look down over the edge of the building's roof, seeing Makoto flying up to them, Power Axe in hand.

"Also, I...think I might be in love," Adam added.

No sooner had he said that did the guardian of courage fly above the two of them before landing in front of them, her white eyes returning to their normal shade of green.

"I think this belongs to you," she stated, motioning to Adam's axe. "Seriously though, where can I get one of these?"

With a smile, she tossed the Power Axe back to its owner, who proceeded to grasp its handle...only for several volts of electricity to greet his body for a split second, causing him to convulse slightly. This prompted Makoto to yelp out in surprise, concern, and realization.

"Sorry!" she quickly apologized.

Back with Rocky and Usagi, the duo had managed to get Goldar's attention by shooting at his wings before he had the chance to make it to the others. Upon landing, the monster general angrily charged at the two of them, who immediately readied themselves with their respective weapons.

Goldar attacked first, mightly swinging his sword in an attempt to cut them both down, only for both Sailor Moon and the Red Ranger to jump up and flip forwards in the air before landing behind their enemy. Both of them instantly turned to face him, swinging their own weapons towards him as they did so, only for Goldar to deflect the Power Sword with his own blade and the Moon Rod with his arm. The flying monkey then kicked Rocky away from him and punched Usagi across the face with his free fist. The guardian of love and justice reeled back a bit before noticing her attacker barreling towards her. She instantly started to run the other way, only to find herself heading towards a wall.

The monster general let out a mock-filled laugh, believing he had her right where he wanted her. However, Usagi, rather than slow down, started running faster towards the wall much to Goldar's bewilderment. She then started to run up the wall and propel herself off of it with her knees, allowing her to land behind her opponent. Goldar had no time to so much as turn around before Usagi shot out an energy beam from her Moon Rod right at his back, resulting in him smashing against the wall.

Enraged, Goldar charged towards Sailor Moon and swung his sword towards her once more, only for her to block it with her own weapon and deliver a kick to the side of his face. Quickly brushing it off, Goldar then blocked a punch that was heading towards his stomach and backhanded the leader of the Sailor Senshi away from him and brought his blade up once more, only for Rocky to catch him off guard from his left and slash his Power Sword across his chest, causing sparks to explode out of the monster's armor and for him to lose his balance.

Rocky then quickly rejoined his ally just as Goldar regained his balance and charged towards the two of them in a fit of rage. He lunged his sword downward at them, only for the Red Ranger to block it and for Sailor Moon to duck down to one knee, pulling out Rocky's Blade Blaster as she did so.

"Wrong!" Usagi remarked, right as Goldar realized the error he had made.

With that, Usagi fired her newfound weapon, hitting Goldar square in the stomach and causing him to be sent flying backwards and into a pile of I-beams at a nearby construction site. With a smile, Usagi rose back to her feet and handed Rocky his weapon back, only to be then startled by Goldar yelling out angrily, prompting her to turn to where he landed just in time to see him launching upwards with an I-beam in his hands, ready to smash his enemies to bits with it. However, just as he started to descend towards the two of them, Minako suddenly flew in from the right, slicing the I-beam in half with her sword before shooting at one of his wings with her Crescent Beam, causing him to lose control and crash into the pavement below.

As Goldar got back on his feet, he was suddenly caught off guard by Aisha jumping onto his back and driving both of her Power Daggers into his back before kicking him towards Billy. Once the monster general reached the Blue Ranger, he was instantly greeted by a slash from his Power Lance that sent him flying back into a wall. Now enraged even further, he pulled both daggers from his back off and tossed them aside, brushing off the pain he felt as he did so, and marched towards the Blue and Yellow Rangers when...

"Mercury Aqua Mirage!"

Goldar turned to his left just in time to see Ami shoot out several energy streams towards him, but failed to evade them in time as each one of them made their mark on his chest. The attack was enough to send him hurtling through a wall before landing roughly onto a nearby street.

"Mars Snake Fire!"

As he struggled to get back on his feet, Goldar failed to notice that Sailor Mars had sent a torrent of fire that was in the shape of a snake towards Scorpina, causing her to be sent flying into him and knocking the two of them onto their backs. They both then attempted to get back up, only to then notice eleven shadows surrounding them. They looked upward to see the eleven champions of justice they had done battle with standing before them, aquatic and electrical energies surrounding Ami and Makoto's arms while the others had each of their weapons at the ready.

"And no, you can't have that drink now," Aisha remarked.

"Shiela, give the GJN a call," Minako said to her communicator. "Looks like Zedd's gonna be down a few generals."

Suddenly, almost on cue, the laughter of said nefarious overlord echoed throughout the skies above, causing both the Senshi and the Rangers to jump slightly in surprise before looking up to try and make out where that heinous sound was coming from.

"Poor, naive little Senshi," Zedd's voice mocked.

Then, without warning, the skies started to turn blood-red as several clouds started to converge together before a projection of the emperor of all he saw suddenly flashed into existence.

"Do you really think that you have won? Wretched, meddlesome do-gooders, that was simply the appetizer!"

"Alright then, Zedd, we're game!" Rocky shouted as he defiantly pointed his Power Sword towards the projection. "What monster do you have cooked up for us this time?"

"Ah, but that's the thing, Red Ranger," Zedd responded. "You see, I came to a bit of a realization."

"And that is?" Kimberly asked.

"Why bother wasting time and resources making my own monsters...when your world is practically filled with them?!" Zedd answered.

With those words spoken, the projection of the intergalactic menace thrusted his staff towards a block of flats in the city, dark energies firing down upon it and penetrating the ground bellow. For a few seconds, nothing came of this action. But then, the ground began to violently shake, causing the eleven heroes to lose their balance.

"Wh-What's happening?!" Usagi fearfully questioned.

"Ai-yai-yai-yai-yai! Rangers! I'm detecting a massive lifeform underneath the city!" Alpha-5 informed via the Rangers' communicators. "It appears that Zedd managed to teleport it underground!"

Amidst the chaos, Rei slowly started to put together just what Zedd had told them...and her eyes widened in horror when she finally understood exactly what he meant.

"Oh my God...It's a Kaiju!"

And upon hearing that horrifying realization, the ground where Zedd fired his energies upon practically exploded as something slowly began to rise out of the depths. The dirt and dust slowly started to fade as it revealed the gargantuan form of what appeared to be a mutated iguana with what almost appeared to be curved dorsal spines along its back and long, dinosaur-like legs and arms.

The creature was an American Kaiju by the name of 'Zilla.' He had first made landfall in 1998 in New York City, laying waste to Times Square and several underground subways before the American military was able to ward him away from the island. The American public was quick to report that the monster was, in fact, Godzilla, only for Japan to immediately deny these myths. Because of this error, the beast was then simply designated as 'Zilla.'

As the monster let out a horrifying shriek that bore a frightening similarity to the Kaiju he had been mistaken for, the Senshi and the Rangers could only observe in terror, failing to notice Scorpina beginning to build up the energies in her gauntlet. Only when she shot them down into the ground bellow the heroes did they finally catch wind of what she was doing, but by then they had already fallen over thanks to the force of the blast. They then quickly shot back onto their feet and turned to face them once more, only to briefly catch them teleporting away, no doubt crawling back to their superiors to lick their wounds.

"Damn it!" Sailor Jupiter cursed. "They got away!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry so much about them if I were you," Zedd stated. "For it seems you have a much larger problem on your hands now! Have fun."

With a wicked cackle, the apparition of Zedd faded away, the clouds reforming as the skies went back to normal. No sooner did he say that did Zilla knock a building over with the swipe of his tail.

"I hate to say it, but he's got a point," Usagi stated to both Rocky and Kimberly. "Angel Grove's still recovering after what happened with Lokar and Ghidorah. **[2]** I doubt it'll be able to handle another Kaiju attack."

The Red Ranger gave a single nod in response before thrusting his right hand up.

"We need Thunderzord po-"

"No, wait! Wait!" Kimberly suddenly objected before Rocky could finish.

"'Wait?'" a confused Aisha repeated.

"Sailor Moon's right," the Pink Ranger explained. "If we summon the Thunderzords now, we'd only be damaging the city even further than it already has been. Plus, there's a chance some civilians hadn't had the chance to evacuate during the Putty attack."

"Then what should we do?" Adam asked.

There was a slight pause in between Adam's question and Kimberly's answer. This wasn't the first time she had been placed in a void that would normally be filled by Tommy, but the hesitation in her command never changed. No matter what, there was always something in the back of her mind pestering her about the all-too-real possibility that her next words would end up being the deaths of her friends. A fairly normal fear for someone who had been thrusted suddenly to the position of leadership over a team such as the Power Rangers.

Still, even now, she knew that she needed to fight against those fears for the sake of this world and the people who inhabited it.

"I think I have an idea," she finally stated before raising her own right arm upward. "Pterodactyl Firebird Thunderzord Power!"

Thunder began to rumble in the clouds, prompting the others to look up once again, only instead of their adversary emerging to mock them once again, Kimberly's Firebird Zord instead burst through the clouds and flew past the heroes, letting out a mechanical caw as it did so. With her Zord now summoned, the Pink Ranger then teleported herself into its cockpit and readied the controls.

"I'm gonna try and divert Zilla out of the city," she explained to her fellow Rangers via their COMMs. "Once he's clear, then we can summon the other Thunderzords and take it down."

"Be careful, Kim," Billy cautioned. "We don't know what else Zedd might have in store for us."

"I'll take that into consideration, but I doubt this guy's gonna be THAT much trouble," Kimberly replied.

She then swiftly turned her Zord towards Zilla and began to increase speed, narrowing her eyes behind her helmet as she got closer and closer.

"Okay, tuna breath. Follow the birdy!"

The bearer of the Pterodactyl Power Coin then pressed her thumbs against the buttons on her Zord's controls, firing several laser beams from its wings at the Kaiju right as he was about to swipe his massive arms at a construction site. Zilla let out a painful shriek as the beams impacted his thick hide, causing him to stumble slightly. He turned to face the Firebird Zord, right as it sharply veered upwards, turning itself 180 degrees before descending downward and flying in the other direction. An enraged Zilla proceeded to roar with contempt as he began to charge towards Kimberly's Zord.

"Yes! It's taking the bait!" Kimberly cheered.

* * *

"Don't celebrate just yet, Kimberly," Zedd nefariously stated from his and Rita's fortress. "You should have listened to your friend. For indeed I DO still have a few more tricks up my sleeve!"

"Uh, but you don't have any-" Squatt attempted to say.

"SILENCE!" Zedd roared, prompting both him and Baboo to quickly dash out of Zedd and Rita's throne room in a cowardly manner.

* * *

As Zilla continued to give chase, what Kimberly failed to notice was that the dorsal spines on the beast's back began to glow a deep shade of green, eerily much like how Godzilla was about to ready his trademark atomic breath. Fortunately, Kimberly's friends, still on the ground, were able to catch this and frantically ready their communicators.

"Pink, something's going on with Zilla!" Sailor Mercury warned. "It looks like he's about to fire something in the vein of Godzilla's atomic breath!"

"Wait, what?!" a stunned Kimberly asked on the other side.

Steam began to emerge from the creature's jaws as he continued to charge towards the Pink Ranger's Zord and aimed himself right towards one of its mechanical wings.

"Bank left! Bank left!" Adam quickly shouted.

Taking her friends' word, Kimberly wasted no time yanking her control yoke to her left, banking sharply the second a green burst of atomic energies exploded from Zilla's mouth. The offensive managed to graze the bottom of the Firebird Zord's left wing, but otherwise missed completely.

Needless to say, Kimberly was completely shocked by this sudden turn of events.

"What the-When could he do that?!" she questioned.

"Kimberly, it seems that Lord Zedd has specially modified this creature with his dark magic," Zordon informed via the Zord's COMMs from the Command Center. "I'm sensing his evil presence from within him."

"So in other words, he put the 'God' back in 'Zilla,'" Kimberly surmised. "...Okay then."

She then flipped several switches, activating an energy detector that would be able to inform her when Zilla would attack again, allowing her to counter it much easier. Right in the nick of time as well, for the detector instantly activated an alarm meant for any sudden increases in energy from within the area. She then turned her craft to the right, narrowly avoiding another of Zilla's atomic offensives.

"Almost there," the Pink Ranger said to herself as she began to approach the outskirts of Angel Grove, barrel rolling to dodge another radioactive blast. "Just a little bit further..."

Her eyes narrowed in deep concentration, focusing all of her attention on getting this monster out of her city as quickly as possible. However, amidst this, she failed to notice the alarm of her energy detector, allowing Zilla to fire a blast right at the Firebird Zord's right wing. The Thunderzord proceeded to tilt suddenly to the right, causing Kimberly to race to correct this.

"Ugh! C'mon, girl, don't do this to me now."

She gripped her controls tightly, likely turning her knuckles white underneath her gloves, as she stabilized her Zord before one of its wings could slice itself into a nearby building. She then sharply pulled on her control yoke, causing the Firebird Zord to soar upwards to dodge another of Zilla's atomic blasts. The creature roared in contempt at his prey as he continued to get closer and closer out of the city.

"Three miles...two miles...one mile..."

And with that last mile passed, the Thunderzord flew right past a sign that said 'You are now leaving Angel Grove' and into an area mostly consisting of trees. Zilla followed suit shortly afterward, now unable to cause further damage to the hometown of the Power Rangers.

"Made it!"

Back on the ground, the other Rangers and the Senshi let out a cheer for their friend for her efforts.

"Fancy flying there, Pink," Minako complimented. "Where'd you learn that?"

"You wouldn't believe how many quarters I popped into Afterburner," Kimberly answered on the other side.

"Alright guys, let's do it!" Rocky declared to his fellow Rangers before lifting his right arm up once more. "We need Thunderzord power, now!"

The roars of thunder and the cracks of lightning dominated the heavens above as several grey clouds practically coated the night sky.

"Mastadon Lion Thunderzord Power!"

"Triceratops Unicorn Thunderzord Power!"

"Sabretooth Tiger Griffin Thunderzord Power!"

"Tyrannosaurus Red Dragon Thunderzord Power!"

Four bolts of lightning struck down upon the ground which the Firebird Zord flew above, revealing the Lion, Unicorn, Griffin and Red Dragon Thunderzords to Zilla, who had ceased his chase on Kimberly and snarled at the now five Zords charging towards him. Electricity surged throughout each of them as the Red Dragon Thunderzord transformed into a more humanoid form, the Unicorn and Griffin Zords turning into a pair of legs, the Lion Zord splitting into a pair of arms and a cuirass, and the Firebird Zord shifting into a fauld.

Each of the four other Zords then began to merge into the Red Dragon Thunderzord while a shogun helmet descended onto the Zord's head, forming the Thunder Megazord. A sight that, as they observed, the Senshi couldn't help but get a bit starry-eyed over.

"Thunder Megazord, power up!" the five Rangers called out from within the chest of the newly formed Megazord.

Several lightning bolts struck around the mechanical titan, all while Zilla roared defiantly at his new adversary, not intimidated in the slightest. It was the Kaiju that made the first move, charging straight towards the Megazord before leaping up in an attempt to grasp onto the metal giant. The Rangers were quick to counter though as they instantly swerved to the side and grabbed the beast's right arm. The Thunder Megazord then heaved Zilla above its head before tossing him into a group of trees.

The empowered Kaiju too, however, was fast on his feet, for once he hit the ground, he immediately corrected himself and stood back up before swiping his gargantuan tail at the Megazord's chassis. This maneuver caused the giant to stumble back a bit while Zilla quickly turned back around and fired a blast of his newly acquired atomic breath right at the Thunder Megazord's chest armor, resulting in it falling onto its back. The creature then let out another roar before leaping towards his downed opponent with the full intent of using his claws to tear it to shreds. But before he got the chance, the metal giant instantly punched him across his head whilst he was in mid-air, resulting in him crashing and dragging against the forest terrain.

The Senshi, still back at the city, observed all this as the Thunder Megazord got back on its feet. Unfortunately, Zilla did much of the same before charging once again towards his enemy, ramming his thick head against the Megazord's metal gut. It was becoming obvious that whatever Zedd had empowered Zilla with had made him much more powerful than he was over twenty years ago and that the Rangers may require a helping hand.

"C'mon, girls," Usagi said to her friends. "Let's give them some backup."

"Right!" the other five Inner Senshi replied.

The guardian of love and justice then ran off the building she and the others stood atop and flew towards the ensuing battle, the others following close behind.

Meanwhile, the Megazord managed to grab Zilla by his head and knee the Kaiju in the gut before placing both hands together and swinging them against his head, sending him flying away from the Rangers' gestalt. This gave them the perfect opportunity to try and finish this fight before it could cause any more destruction.

"Thunder saber, now!"

With that command issued, the Thunder Megazord unsheathed its Power Sword out of the scabbard on its waist and pointed it at Zilla as he slowly got back on his feet.

"Thunder power! Hyah!"

The Thunder Megazord proceeded to charge towards the enemy Kaiju, leaping upwards as it readied its massive weapon before bringing it down upon the beast. However, much to the Rangers' shock, the sword simply clashed against what appeared to be a barrier that surrounded Zilla's entire body.

"Wait, what the-?!" Aisha exclaimed.

She ended up being interrupted by a sudden blast of atomic breath straight to the Thunder Megazord's chest, causing it to be sent flying into a group of trees and the Rangers inside to hold on for dear life. Once the mechanical titan finally ceased sliding across the ground, the Rangers quickly attempted to get it back on its feet, only to then hear a shriek from Zilla getting closer and closer. They looked up to see the beast charging towards them, ready to end this fight when...

"Jupiter Coconut Cyclone!"

From the Rangers' left, a massive orb of electrical energies thundered towards the Kaiju, hitting him right on its side, exploding upon impact. This wasn't enough to knock the monster down, but it did cause him to stumble to the right slightly and force it to slide to a halt. Zilla and the Rangers turned to see the Senshi flying towards the beast, only for them to quickly scatter about once Zilla countered with his atomic breath.

"What's going on?!" Chibiusa asked, no doubt referring to the barrier both the Rangers and Makoto had previously attacked.

"Alpha, what just happened?" Billy asked via the Megazord's COMMs as he finally managed to get the Megazord back on its feet. "Why did the sword just bounce off him?"

"Our scanners are showing that whatever dark energies Lord Zedd had empowered Zilla with appears to have formed a barrier around him," Alpha-5 answered on the other side.

"Did you guys hear that?" Rocky asked his allies via his Infinity League communicator.

"Loud and clear," Mina answered. "Now we just need to figure out how to break through and get this oversized iguana out of here."

Suddenly, Sailor Mercury's eyes widened slightly, an idea forming in her head.

"Rangers, do you mind if I step into the Megazord for a moment?" she requested.

"...There's a hatch in the back we can unlock, but why?" a confused Kimberly asked.

Instead of answering right away, Ami simply flew towards the back of the Thunder Megazord and landed onto the gestalt's back, opening the now unlocked hatch and dashed into the control room that the perplexed Rangers still occupied.

"I think I know how we can break through Zedd's barrier," she stated as she got out her supercomputer, her Mercury Goggles deploying as she did so. "If I can temporarily reverse the polarities of your Power Sword, I might be able to get it to act as a conductor of sorts to absorb any attack that heads its way."

"So it can repel Zilla's atomic breath back at him?" Adam questioned.

"Not quite," Ami answered. "I know it's a bit of a long shot, but I'm confident this will work."

She was right on the previous regard. The protectors of Angel Grove had no idea how energies from the Morphing Grid would react to an outside source. Still, if they had any chance of beating Zedd's ace-in-the-hole, they at least needed to try.

"There's a port right next to the primary radars," Billy informed.

Nodding once, Sailor Mercury wasted no time hooking up a cable to connect the port with her supercomputer, immediately getting to work on the task she had set herself.

Back outside, the Senshi were attempting to pour everything they had into breaking through the barrier around Zilla, but all that did was make the Kaiju angrier as he swiped his claws at the protectors of Tokyo any time they got close enough, the Senshi just narrowly avoiding them every time. As they scrambled about, Rei proceeded to pull out one of her ofudas, hoping that her skills as a shrine priestess would be able to break through Zedd's evil sorcery. She concentrated deeply as the fires of Mars surrounded her.

"Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!"

With that chant, she reeled her right arm backward...

"Evil spirits, be exorcised!"

...and threw the ofuda towards the creature, landing itself on the dark barrier, only for it to ignite into a violet inferno and singe into ashes, her efforts not even scratching the force field. The guardian of love and passion barely had any time to let her shock sink in or even move before Zilla set his eyes on her and prepared his atomic breath, only for the Thunder Megazord to tackle the Kaiju to the ground, causing him to fire his attack at the sky instead.

"You okay?" Usagi asked as she flew up to her friend.

"I'm fine, thanks," Rei answered.

She then turned back to Zilla and the Megazord's struggle just as Zilla managed to kick the metal giant off of his person before swiping its legs with his tail, causing it to fall onto its back. Zilla then tried once again to jump on top of the Thunder Megazord, only for it to roll to the side and get back on its feet, punching the Kaiju in the head as it did so.

"Mercury, how much longer until you're done doing...whatever it is you're doing?" Sailor Moon questioned via her COMM.

"Almost there, Sailor Moon," Ami answered as she frantically kept typing away at her supercomputer. "Just need to reconfigure a few more tachyons and then-"

The guardian of wisdom was interrupted, however, by Zilla headbutting the Megazord directly in the chest, causing her and the other Rangers to lose their balance. Fortunately, they were able to quickly regain it before the Rangers commanded the Megazord to roundhouse kick Zilla away from them.

"Almost...there, and..." Ami said to herself before noticing the Megazord's Power Sword start to glow. "Got it!"

"Power levels seem to be optimal," Billy informed as he checked the readings. "No signs of any blowback."

"Okay, Sailor Moon, we only have a few minutes to spare," Ami stated via her COMM. "I need you to attack the Power Sword."

"...Huh?" a confused Usagi questioned on the other side.

"I've managed to temporarily reverse the polarities so that it can act as a power conductor of sorts for a few minutes," Ami explained. "The energies from your Spiral Heart Moon Rod combined with those of the Morphing Grid should be enough to penetrate Zedd's barrier."

"...Uh...Okay then," Sailor Moon replied, barely understanding half of what Ami had just told her.

Outside, Usagi proceeded to turn back to the Thunder Megazord and thrust her Moon Rod upwards.

"Neo Queen Serenity!" she called out. "Lend me your strength! Lend your power to my Heart Moon Rod!"

Pink energies began to glow from within the Moon Princess' weapon as she began to rapidly spin in mid-air.

"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!"

With that command issued, she ceased her spinning and pointed her Moon Rod towards the Megazord, a spinning, heart-shaped blast shooting out of it. Seeing their opportunity, the Rangers immediately had the Thunder Megazord thrust its sword outwards, causing the attack to veer towards it. Upon impact, the heart absorbed itself into the Power Sword, pink lightning shooting out of it.

"Alright, Thunder Saber engage!" Kimberly called out.

With the now empowered Power Sword in both hands, the Thunder Megazord then charged towards Zilla, who was busy trying to swipe Sailor Venus and Sailor Chibi Moon away from him. Hearing the heavy footsteps of the Megazord coming towards him, Zilla immediately turned towards the source, steam emerging from his mouth, but was unable to fire this time as the Megazord had already leaped up and brought the sword down upon him. The combined energies from Sailor Moon's attack and the Morphing Grid caused the sword to break through the barrier, shattering it before the sword sliced into the Kaiju's thick hide, an explosion of pink lightning detonating outward upon impact.

The attack was enough to send Zilla hurdling into a group of trees. A dust cloud had emerged once he landed, covering his entire body. The Megazord and the Senshi immediately rushed towards where the beast had fallen just as the dust settled, only to see a giant hole where he once was, indicating that Zilla had already burrowed underground.

"Where'd he go?" Sailor Venus asked.

"Sensors indicate he's heading to Angel Grove Harbor," Billy answered. "Looks like he's making a full retreat."

"We did it!" Usagi cheered as she flew up to hug her friends and future daughter in celebration.

* * *

Back at Rita and Zedd's fortress, red lightning erupted from the balcony just as the emperor of all he saw let out an enraged yell over his defeat.

"No! We had them right where we wanted them!"

He then swiftly turned to Goldar and Scorpina, who immediately started to back themselves to a corner in fear.

"I'm surrounded by complete and utter incompetence!" Zedd roared as he marched towards his generals. "If only you two ha-"

"Call him," Rita suddenly interrupted.

Hearing those words, Zedd instantly ceased his usual rant and turned back to his wife, clutching his staff tightly.

"Leave us," he ordered his generals.

Not wishing to anger their master any further, both Goldar and Scorpina immediately dashed out of the room, leaving Zedd alone with Rita.

"Call. Him," Rita repeated.

"Out of the question!" Zedd retaliated. "We are not ones to scurry like cowards for assistance. Besides, I don't trust that freak after he sold me that defective battery core for Serpentera!"

"We don't have much of a choice anymore, Zedd!" Rita stated. "With so many more of these pesky 'heroes' coming up every day it feels like and them joining that stupid team the Rangers are a part of, don't you think it's time we fought fire with fire?"

Zedd was about to try and counter his beloved's reasonings, only to cease his efforts instantly as he took her words in...and slowly realized she might be right. And so, with a defeated sigh, Zedd approached his viewing globe and sat down upon his throne, turning to the globe as he did so.

"Get me in contact with Black Hat."

* * *

Meanwhile, on Skyward Tower, Wheeljack, after receiving word of the successful mission in Angel Grove, had the Rangers and the Senshi teleported back to the League's base of operations. Most of the members of both respective groups appeared before the Autobot scientist, laughing and exchanging words about a job well done, with the exception of Sailor Moon and Kimberly.

"I take it you kids had fun down there," Wheeljack greeted.

"Mm-hm," Minako replied with a chipper nod. "We're heading over to the mess hall to celebrate before we head back home."

"Oh, yeah, about that..." the Autobot stated. "While you guys were gone, something happened to the food replicators. They're gonna be down for a bit while they reboot their systems."

"What happened?" Rocky questioned.

"Wait..." Rei suddenly interrupted, her precognitive abilities kicking in. "Three...two...one."

Suddenly, a scream echoed throughout the hallways from afar as the Senshi and the Rangers all turned to gaze down one just in time to see Mikey dash across an intersecting hall, covered in mozzarella and slices of pepperoni.

"MIKEY!" Raph's voice angrily roared.

Soon afterward, the cool but rude Turtle barreled through the hall after his brother, and even from this distance, everyone could still see the fire in Raph's eyes.

"...Again?" Aisha sighed.

"Third time this month," Wheeljack answered.

"Does this mean the mess hall's off-limits again?" Mina asked.

"Nope," Wheeljack answered. "Soos just got done cleaning all the pepperoni, cheese, peanut butter, clam sauce, jalapeños, gummi worms and pineapple slices."

Both collective teams couldn't help but gag slightly at the thought of what monstrosity Mikey was trying to concoct.

"What is with him and his pizzas?" Adam questioned.

"I know," Sailor Venus added. "Who the hell puts pineapples on pizza?!"

Hearing those words from the guardian of beauty caused everyone else to turn to her, visible eyebrows raised on the faces of her fellow Senshi.

"...What?"

"Guess I'll head over to the kitchen and get started," Makoto said, inwardly eager to display her culinary expertise.

She then began to walk down the hallway towards the mess hall, most of the other Senshi and the Rangers in tow...with one exception that Ami instantly noticed. She turned around see Rei looking over to the earth bellow with her right hand on her left arm.

"Hey, Mars, are you okay?" the guardian of wisdom asked her friend.

"Huh?" Rei replied. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Hey, listen, someone's probably going to have to let Danny and the others know about what happened to Zilla. I'll meet you guys in the mess hall soon."

"...Okay, I'll let the others know," a perplexed Sailor Mercury responded, feeling as though there was something she wasn't telling her, but seeing her logic in what she told her.

Ami proceeded to turn and leave to rejoin the others. When she was out of sight Rei looked down to the floor in regret, immediately feeling bad about not telling her friend a second visit she was about to make.

* * *

Jazz let out a sigh as she began to close Sanctuary after yet another long, hard day's work. Her sessions with the heroes of the Infinity League had started to gradually spike in the past couple of months, and though she wouldn't give up this newfound career of hers for the world, it was understandably tiresome from time to-time. Despite this, though, there were seven heroes that still hadn't visited Sanctuary in a long time regarding something that troubled the lot of them, and even the young psychiatrist herself.

For the past month, Lumberjane, the White Ranger, Steven, Star, Blossom, Angel, and April had been having these strange nightmares about a being made entirely of fire decimating Tokyo, calling out to each of them as it did so, tempting them with powers beyond their wildest dreams. Each of them had, at first, regularly visited her to discuss these dreams, prompting her to inform the leaders of the League.

However, rather than try and get to the bottom of this, they instead elected to suspend them until further notice. At first, the suspension was only for Wendy, Steven, Aelita, Star, and Tommy upon finding out that Blossom and April's dreams weren't as frequent as the others', but following a mission in which the Powerpuff Girls were involved with, **[2]** their leader began to have these nightmares more and more, leading to her being benched as well. Then, April's dreams also began to increase at an alarming rate, which resulted in her too getting suspended and her classes temporarily being taken over by Jason Lee Scott and Zack Taylor.

It still infuriated Jazz to this day. Made even worse when Kim demanded that she turn over her case files regarding the seven to them. Almost as if their privacy meant absolutely nothing to her. She was thankful that Danny and the others convinced her to change her mind, but still bitter about their actions nonetheless, as likely were the seven that were benched. She expected a full-blown meltdown from some of them, more than likely Wendy, but was surprised when that didn't happen.

In fact, none of them had come to Sanctuary ever since that day.

From what she was told, the seven of them elected to instead start meeting each other at Steven's beach house in Beach City to discuss their dreams. She contemplated asking either Garnet or Pearl if they knew anything about what was discussed, but opted against it, believing that maybe this is what they need. To speak their minds in privacy amongst those who understood what they were going through and away from the now untrustworthy eyes of their leaders.

It made her feel awful just thinking about this entire mess. Not just because of the League leaders' response, but also because she felt like she deserved some of the blame. These heroes went to her for help, and because she felt inclined to inform the leaders about this growing concern, it lead to this. It was all too likely that she may have burned a few bridges regarding her relationship with these seven patients, and it would take a long time for them to rebuild if they could be at all. She even suspected that this distrust may have gotten to several of the other League members, who aren't opening up to her as much out of fear that they'll be suspended too.

Interestingly, though, there was one other member of the League who shared these strange visions that was exempt from being benched. One of their newest members, Sailor Mars. Jenny had managed to sway the other leaders to spare her from being suspended since it was her first day as a member of the League. Soon afterward, the Sailor Senshi of war herself made her case by electing to perform several meditation techniques that were passed down from generation to generation of the shrine maiden's family before she slept in an attempt to ward off the evil spirit that reached out to her. Upon noticing that her nightmares began to reduce drastically since then, they decided to allow her to remain on the League for the time being.

Since then, between continuing both her sessions with the other members and her search for the mysterious ninth individual affected by these dreams, it was quite a tiring past couple of days and the young psychiatrist was ready to beam back to Amity Park for some much-needed rest.

Just as she closed the door and turned around, however, she was greeted by Sailor Mars standing in front of her, causing the two of them to flinch slightly.

"Oh, hey, Mars," a surprised Jazz greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"Doctor Fenton, I know it's late, but there's something we need to talk about," Rei answered.

* * *

Back on Earth, Usagi and Kimberly, after the mission in Angel Grove, had met at the Game Center Crown in Tokyo after it had closed for the day and entered into the command center for the Senshi underneath the structure. There, they met with Luna to ask her a few questions regarding something that Goldar had informed Usagi during their fight.

"Consider this payback for your mother and Zordon locking me in that accursed dumpster ten thousand years ago!"

It was a surprising revelation that still boggled the Moon Princess' mind, so she decided that she, along with Kimberly, would bring this information to Luna to see if his words had any truth to it.

"Zordon and Queen Serenity were close allies," Luna stated after being given this info. "I recall being kept fairly in the dark when it came to these matters, but what I do remember is that they met about ten thousand years ago, so it would stand to reason that Rita's initial attack on Earth was what brought them together."

"Well, if that's the case, then why didn't he help out when Silver Millennium fell?" Usagi asked. "It seems like he would've been able to turn the tide on Beryl and Metallia."

"Hmmm...Pink Ranger, how long has Zordon been trapped in that time warp?" Luna asked as she turned to her guest.

"Say about five thousand years if I remember," Kimberly answered.

"Well, then that's probably the reason why," the talking feline concluded. "That must have happened to him sometime in between Silver Millennium's destruction and when they last met."

"What happened when they last met?" Kimberly curiously asked.

"Queen Serenity never spoke much about it afterward," Luna answered. "From what I gathered, they, along with an Egyptian sorcerer, lead a group of heroes to drive off an unspeakable evil that was said to devour entire worlds."

A sense of dread overtook both heroes as their spines turned ice-cold before Usagi spoke up.

"What...what was this evil called?"

"As I said, your mother never spoke much about it," Luna answered. "Anytime I caught wind of her discussing it, she would always have this look of fear in her eyes. It was almost like she dreaded this thing's potential return. She would usually refer it with a title of some kind like 'The Dark One' or 'The End of Worlds.' Though...Though in one instance...I believe I may have heard her invoke its name."

"...And...what was it?" Kimberly asked.

A pause deafened the room before the feline finally gave her answer.

"...Unicron."

* * *

Soon afterward, the Pink Ranger and Sailor Moon stood atop the arcade, Usagi sending a message to Wheeljack to teleport the two of them back to Skyward Tower. Once she had finished relaying her message, she noticed Kimberly looking off to the sunset as though something seemed to be wrong.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine, it's just..." Kimberly answered before trailing off slightly. "This...this Unicron guy Luna talked about, the way your past mother described him, it was like...like he was practically evil incarnate."

"Yeah, it kinda gave me the chills too," Usagi admitted as she stood next to Kimberly. "But hey, I'm sure if he shows his face around here, he's gonna be real sorry he messed with us!"

"Yeah, assuming...assuming this situation with White clears up before then," the Pink Ranger replied.

Hearing this caused the guardian of love and justice's look of optimism to turn to one of confusion.

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"I..." the Pink Ranger began, only to pause as she attempted to put her thoughts into words. As she did so, she sat down upon the ledge of the building she stood atop. An action Usagi repeated as she sat next to her fellow League member.

"I don't think I'm fit to be a leader, honestly. Ever since the White Ranger was benched, every time I took command I always had this creeping thought in the back of my head. This...voice that always keeps nagging at me and tells me 'You might have just made the wrong move. One of these days, you're going to fail.' Now it's gotten to the point where every mission the Rangers and I go to as a team, I can't help but wonder: Is this the day it happens? Is this the day I let them down? Or worse, get them...get them killed?"

Behind her helmet, Kimberly began to let out a few deep breaths, no doubt a result of those thoughts creeping back out from the recesses of her mind. Usagi took notice of this and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder in an attempt to reassure her.

"Believe me, I know what that's like," she stated. "When Luna first came to me, I wasn't exactly superhero material, let alone leadership material. I was this clumsy, overly-emotional crybaby that failed every English test and just wanted to play video games and eat pork buns all day. So you can probably imagine that when I was suddenly told I had to lead the other Senshi when we started finding them, those thoughts started coming to me too."

As she heard the reassuring words of the protector of Japan, Kimberly turned her head to face her, her breathing beginning to calm itself.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to deal with them?" she questioned.

"See, that's...that's kinda the thing," Usagi answered in a slightly bashful tone. "They don't exactly just go away over time. I...I still get those thoughts from time to time if I'm totally honest. But what I eventually learned is that you can't let them control you. Focus on what's important and do what you can to push those thoughts back to where they came from."

The Moon Princess then widened her grin before she continued.

"Besides, you did great out there!"

"You...You really think so?" Kimberly asked, a small smile forming behind her helmet.

"Of course!" Usagi answered. "You did a lot better than I would have when I was a leader for as long as you were. I probably would've just started running the other way crying."

The two of them shared a chuckle as they assisted each other back on their feet.

"Thanks, Sailor Moon," Kimberly said.

"No problem, Pink," Usagi responded. "C'mon, Wheeljack should have the teleporters ready soon. Whadya say we go join the others and celebrate?"

"Sounds good," the Pink Ranger answered. "Just try not to eat everything before we get a chance to though."

"I...heheh, I'll try not to," Sailor Moon sheepishly promised.

* * *

"...A purse...Zedd made a monster...out of a purse?" a dumbfounded yet grinning Minako questioned.

"That's what Pink told us," Adam confirmed.

Given that one couldn't rush art, it was going to take some time before what Makoto was preparing in the mess hall's kitchen would be ready, so the Rangers and the Senshi, currently the sole inhabitants, decided to pass the time by talking about one thing both teams had in common.

The rather ridiculous monsters they fought on an almost daily basis.

The Senshi thought they had the Rangers beat in this playful competition with their Doorknobders, their Steerings, and their Hurdles with appearances that respectively consisted of a massive set of keys and a door for hands, race car parts throughout their body, and a giant shoe for a top. However, upon hearing tales of a bat-rhino that commanded Putties like a football coach, a turtle with a traffic light on its back, and a chicken with a pair of hedge clippers that tore holes in the fabric of time, they realized that, when it comes to the surrealness of their enemies, the Rangers easily trumped them in every regard.

Upon hearing the Black Ranger's confirmation, Minako suddenly began to burst out laughing while Ami and Chibiusa couldn't help but chuckle at the preposterous monster concept.

"How did it even attack?" Sailor Chibi Moon questioned.

"Okay, get this," Aisha began. "Apparently, when Zedd turned the purse into a monster, it used everything that was in it as weapons. Like a compact mirror that froze people."

"And he used a giant thing of dental floss like a lasso," Rocky added.

"Wha-What?!" Sailor Venus replied in between her laughing fit. "What else did this guy do? Make a staff out of a cue tip? Use a thing of lipstick as a sword?"

It took a few seconds for Mina to realize who she had inadvertently mocked.

"Uh, d-don't tell SheZow I said that," she nervously requested.

"Actually, he ended up turning the lipstick into another monster," Billy stated.

"Oh my God, seriously?!" Minako responded as she resumed her laughter. "Okay, okay, I-I give, you guys clearly have us beat!"

"Beat with what?" Makoto chimed it.

The respective heroes turned to see the guardian of courage laying down trays of sushi, homemade gyoza, and bowls containing soy sauce on the table they were seated at.

"We were talking about which of us fought the weirder monsters," the guardian of beauty answered.

"Oh?" Mako asked as she sat down. "Like what?"

"We'll tell you after we eat some of this," Aisha answered as the mouthpieces of the four Rangers retracted. "Seriously, Jupiter, you are a lifesaver! If I had to eat one more of those machines' replicated burgers, I was going to puke."

"Thanks," Sailor Jupiter replied with a smile as she grabbed a pair of chopsticks and ate a piece of the sushi she had prepared. "You know what they say. Nothing beats homemade."

"I'll say," Rocky responded as he dipped his sushi into a bowl of soy sauce. "You managed to get Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup to eat sushi last time you cooked for us."

"Why's that so surprising?" Mako asked.

"Normally, they HATE sushi," Adam answered. "You've got to be a culinary wizard to get them to like it."

"Lucky you, you're looking at one right now," Minako stated as she pointed at the Senshi of thunder before eating a piece of gyoza.

"Oh, stop, guys, you're making me blush," Makoto said as she placed a hand on the back of her head, chuckling as she did so.

Before they could continue on, the heroes heard the doors to the mess hall opening and turned to see Sailor Moon and the Pink Ranger approaching them.

"Sorry we're late," Usagi apologized.

"Actually, you two came in just in time," Aisha replied, motioning to the food Mako had prepared.

"We made sure to save you two a seat," Ami added.

"Let me guess, Mikey blew up the replicators again?" Kimberly asked.

"Right on the money," Rocky answered.

"Remind me to thank him later," the Pink Ranger responded as her own mouthpiece retracted, revealing her smile as she and Usagi took their seats.

"So, what did we miss?" the guardian of love and justice asked.

"We were just competing over which of us fought the weirdest monsters," Minako answered.

"You tell them about the Rapping Pumpkin yet?" Kimberly asked as she turned to Billy.

Before the Blue Ranger could answer though, he was interrupted by Sailor Venus, who instantly dropped the piece of sushi she had picked up back onto the table.

"Did I...Did I just hear 'Rapping Pumpkin?'" she asked.

"You heard right, Venus," Kimberly answered.

"Oh, gimme details!" she requested, practically grinning ear-to-ear. "I've gotta hear about this one!"

As the Pink Ranger began to recount this odd encounter, Usagi couldn't help but smile to herself as she watched her fellow Senshi bonding more and more with their fellow superheroes. In the short span that she and the others had been a part of the Infinity League, they were quick to adjust to their new positions and even make several new friends along the way. It seemed as though her initial fears of joining and failing to adjust had been completely put to rest.

However, the warm smile quickly faded as she finally noticed that someone was missing.

"Hey, Chibiusa," she whispered as she leaned to her future daughter. "Where's Rei?"

"She went to go tell the leaders about what Zedd did to Zilla," Sailor Chibi Moon whispered back. "But...now that you mention it, she's been gone for a while now. Maybe she got lost?"

Inwardly, Usagi had hoped that was the case, praying that it didn't have to do with something else...Something darker.

* * *

**Case File #1019 Session #5**

**Code Name: Sailor Mars**

**Real Name: N/A**

"Doctor Fenton...They're beginning to come back," Rei began.

"...The nightmares?" Jazz asked.

The guardian of war said nothing. Only nodding once in response.

Though she had managed to ward off the source of these inhuman dreams since she had become a member of the League, over the past couple of days, her meditation techniques were starting to fail on her and she could sense the being that called out to her breaking through.

"Last night, I could sense this evil's presence getting stronger and stronger as I slept," Rei continued. "It...It got to the point where I could feel its claws dig through my head and pierce my brain...I ended up waking up feeling like my skull was on fire and...and..."

"...What?" Jazz asked.

"...My...My hand was reaching for the ceiling...like I was trying to reach out to it..." Sailor Mars answered, her voice beginning to tremble.

The young psychiatrist could practically see the dread that overtook her patient as she started to breathe heavily.

"I...I don't know what to do anymore, Doctor," Rei continued. "Have Prime and the others gotten any closer to figuring out what's going on?"

"I'm afraid not," Jazz solemnly answered. "Until they do, the best I can do for the moment is resume your Hypnocil prescription to try and stop these dreams."

Upon hearing the doctor's words, Rei let out an almost defeated sigh.

"Mars, I'm sorry, but we-" Jazz attempted to say.

"No, no, it's okay, Jazz," Rei interrupted. "It's not your fault."

Although the Senshi of love and passion meant what she said, Jazz had a hard time believing that. With everything that's been going on lately with these nightmares, she couldn't help but feel like she was a complete and utter failure for not being able to help these heroes in the time they needed her most. She had been able to push those thoughts aside for the most part and focus her energy on continuing her work, but moments like these made those feelings creep back from time to time.

"Hey, can you do me a favor, Doctor Fenton?" Rei continued.

"Huh?" Jazz asked as she snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, sure, Mars. What is it?"

"Can we...Can we keep this session between the two of us?" Sailor Mars requested.

"Of course," the young psychiatrist answered. "You know that anything you say doesn't have to leave these walls if you don't want them to."

"You promise?" Rei asked.

"Mars, if this is about what Kim tried to do, don't worry," Jazz reassured. "I'd sooner jump out of the airlock then compromise your privacy."

"...Okay," Rei replied. "Thank you."

* * *

Once her session ended, the Sehsni of war stepped out of Sanctuary's doors, looked across the hallways to see if anyone saw her before beginning to make her way down to the mess hall to join the others. All the while she kept her right hand on her left arm and her thoughts drifted to the nightmares that resumed plaguing her in her sleep.

And how whatever was pulling the strings was getting closer and closer to Earth.

* * *

**[1] - As explained in Chapter 3 of The Dark Phoenix**

**[2] - As seen in the Infinity Verse Spotlight centered around King Ghidorah**


	2. Glitch Techs and the Autobots

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry that it's been some time before we uploaded something new. Long story short, basically, I had severe writer's block frequently coming and going, and it all pretty much has to do with the fact that the world's...kinda gone to shit of course. (hope you guys stay safe in these times, BTW) Thankfully though, I finally managed to finish this team-up I've been working on for a while, and it's the official introduction to what will be the newest property we have added to the IV: Glitch Techs.**

**This is a Nickelodeon series on Netflix that I highly, HIGHLY recommend you check out. Not just because they're in the IV, but it's just damn good. Think if you put Star vs the Forces of Evil and Code Lyoko together with a style similar to Tron and with a dash Ghostbusters and Men In Black. (which will sadly not be in the IV BTW, but I wouldn't give up hope that it's in the multiverse if I were you.)**

**DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the properties you will see here. All rights go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Infinity Verse Team-Up

Glitch Techs and the Autobots: High Voltage

* * *

At first glance, Bailley appeared to be a fairly mundane town in comparison to the rest of the world. No Kaiju attacks, no supervillains vying for world domination, no mafias or drug cartels seeking control, in fact, crime rates were pretty low when put up against other cities in America like Townsville or New York City. It seemed to be the perfect place to live in if one sought release from the chaos that virtually plagued the rest of the world.

But beneath the cracks lies a devious threat that most of the townspeople were completely oblivious to. A threat that was the answer to a question most wouldn't think to ask.

What really happens when a video game starts to glitch?

The answer: A dangerous, pixelated monstrosity is let loose in the real world and wreaks havoc whilst following its game's coding. This was Bailley's primary threat to its people's safety, often regularly emerging from products designed by the gaming company known as Hinobi Technology. Now, how exactly is the public kept in the dark in regards to these glitches, one might ask?

And the answer to that comes in the form of Hinobi Technology's task force against these glitches, the Glitch Techs. Hinobi employees specially trained with the skills needed to fight, capture, and detain glitches. They've managed to keep the secret of these creatures alive by 'resetting' anyone who bore witness to the devastation they brought, effectively wiping their memories of the events that transpired after the glitch materialized, while also utilizing what appeared chrono-technology to reverse the effects of time in the surrounding area, completely eradicating any evidence the glitch was ever even there.

Even so, it seemed their endeavor was to be an endless one, as Bailley seemed to be a hot-spot for these monsters to come crawling out of the circuitry they were spawned in, such was the case of a particular cabinet inside a local arcade. Said game was an Asteroids clone simply called 'Kremzeek!' A game where one controls a microscopic vessel inside a motherboard shooting down the titular electrical computer viruses that ran amuck throughout the circuits devouring every diode and microchip it laid its eyes on.

A young boy had been at this cabinet for a while now, getting closer and closer to the high score, when, without warning, the screen began to glitch out. The child's excitement turned to confusion, then fright as sparks started to emanate out of the cabinet. He was able to avoid any harm, quickly jumping back when the sparks flew, before one large spark shot out of the screen and towards a nearby circuit breaker, seemingly disappearing once it absorbed itself into one of the sockets.

The petrified boy quickly got up and dashed away from the now fried arcade cabinet, likely in an attempt to find his mother, completely unaware of the creature that was now let loose upon this world.

* * *

"A'ight, there you go. One used copy of Fix-It-Felix 2 and one new copy of Sugar Rush. Enjoy."

Once Zahra had downloaded the games her customer purchased into her handheld, said satisfied customer turned to leave, leaving the sardonic Glitch Tech to pull out her phone and await the next patron to enter the store. It'd been a slow day for the mini-mall of which the Hinobi Store she worked at sat upon. Both in terms of business as well as glitches. Unusual, given where she and the others lived and operated at, but not unwelcome.

Then, suddenly, as she continued to wait, Zahra noticed an alarm ringing on her phone. One that's only purpose was to alert the Techs to a new glitch formation. In response, she quickly pulled up the alert, displaying a map of the town and where the glitch had materialized, as well as a bio of what game it came from and what type of glitch it was. However, the map didn't focus on the town of Bailley for long, for it then proceeded to zoom out to display the entire world much to Zahra's bewilderment. It then proceeded to display a path of where the glitch had gone to, showing that it had managed to travel up to a satellite...and then head towards the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The girl's eyebrow raised at this sight, wondering for a split second if something was wrong with her phone, but the fact that a digital monster hadn't jumped out at her caused her to instantly throw that theory out the window. She proceeded to turn towards Haneesh, who was busy reorganizing the merchandise in the store.

"Hey, Haneesh, come here for a sec," she called out.

Hearing his friend and co-Tech speak to him caused Haneesh to cease his task and walk over to her at the front desk.

"What's up, Zahra?" he asked.

"Check this out," Zahra answered as she showed him her phone. "Picked up a glitch here in the town, but then it somehow managed to arc itself up to a satellite and, for some reason, gun it for the Pacific Ocean."

"...Wh-What?" a confused Haneesh questioned. "Why?"

"Dunno," Zahra answered. "Says here it's sort of a subspecies of possessor glitches that can absorb itself into any form of technology and feed off its energy, but the map says there's no oil refineries of subs nearby, so what could this thing possibly want there?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the earthbound base of the Decepticons, the submerged wreckage of the Nemesis, Soundwave continued to comb through Earth's several satellite transmissions. Day in and day out, the Decepticon Communications Officer scanned through the entire planet via its various orbital transmissions, hoping for some kind of intel that could lead to Megatron's eventual victory over the Autobots. Today, however, said robotic warlord was not with his subordinates in the downed warship. Earlier, the former gladiator of Kaon had departed for an urgent meeting with Cobra Commander in the Terrordrome. Something about negotiating for access to one of their weapons to utilize against G.I. Joe was all he had informed his troops in regards to this meeting.

This lead to an outcome nearly every Decepticon dreaded: In his absence, Starscream was put in charge.

It's no secret amongst most of the other nefarious Cybertronians that said treacherous worm was not well-liked among his peers. His authoritarian complex and ego the size of Trypticon was enough to make them want to dismantle him for spare parts. Soundwave, in particular, could barely stand the leader of the Seekers, given that his loyalty to Megatron was unquestionable, and Starscream's tendency to try and overthrow him caused the spy-master to wonder, more often than not, why he doesn't just gun him down and be done with this endless charade of treachery.

Unfortunately for Soundwave though, he had been so caught up in his task and his thoughts that he had failed to notice a sudden energy signature was heading straight for the Nemesis. More specifically, him. It had managed to phase itself into the Nemesis via its cannons' wirings and travel through the circuitry until it had reached Soundwave, bursting out of the walls before absorbing itself into him via his tape deck mode's tape door. Suddenly, a searing pain coursed through Soundwave's body, forcing him to transform into his robot mode while speaking garbled nonsense and thrashing about.

"SYSTEMS MALFUNCTIONING! SYSTEMS MALFUNCTIONING!" he managed to get out.

The communications officer then started to run towards the door before crashing through it, almost running into Astrotrain and Blitzwing as he did so. Needless to say, both triple-changers were caught off guard by this sudden turn of events.

"What's gotten into that uncharismatic bore?!" Blitzwing questioned as he and Astrotrain backed away from Soundwave, who continued to violently thrash into the hallway's walls.

Suddenly, Soundwave collapsed harshly onto the floor, knocked into stasis, as a yellow spark shot out of his chest and went directly for Blitzwing. The instant the spark phased into him, the triple-changer swung his arms wildly, narrowly missing Astrotrain, before rapidly spinning around and backing into his fellow Decepticon.

"Blitzwing, what are you do-!" Astrotrain attempted to say, only for Blitzwing to knock into him, the spark managing to make its way to him as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, amidst the ensuing insanity, Knock Out was busy in the medical wing buffing his paintwork, humming as he did so, when a sudden crashing noise caused him to flinch and drop his waxer in the process.

"What in the-" he said to himself.

Another crashing sound caused him to flinch again. Annoyed by his buffing session being interrupted, he angrily marched up to the doors and opened them.

"How am I suppose to concentr-AHH!" he attempted to say, only to quickly close the doors to avoid Astrotrain's body crashing into him.

The frightened Decepticon medic quickly backed up to a medical slab before something burned through the closed doors. That same yellow spark that possessed the other Decepticons shot into the infirmary and landed on the floor in front of Knock Out. It then started to form into a small, electrical creature with red eyes and a mouth that almost resembled that of a jack-o-lantern, grinning deviously the instant it saw Knock Out.

"Kremzeek!" the creature screeched.

In response, a shaking Knock Out quickly turned his right hand into his buzzsaw weapon.

"Get away from me!" he shouted. "Stay away!"

The Kremzeek ignored his target's pleas however, launching itself towards the Decepticon as it snarled hungrily.

* * *

Elsewhere, Shatter continued to walk down the halls of the Nemesis when the sounds of an engine revving coming from behind caught her attention. She quickly turned to see Knock Out, in his sports car mode, barrelling towards her, all while the medic screamed in terror. The shocked female triple-changer quickly stepped out of the way as Knock Out sped past her, transforming into his robot mode as he did so, only to stop midway and turn back into his vehicle mode.

"Knock Out, have you lost your mind?!" Shatter angrily demanded to know.

"It's not me!" Knock Out exclaimed as he continued to transform in and out of both his modes. "It's h-him!"

"Him?!" Shatter repeated. "Him who?!"

Then, without warning, the Kremzeek practically exploded out of Knock Out's chest, causing him to be sent flying into a wall before sliding harshly onto the floor.

"I...just...buffed that..." he weekly stated before falling into stasis.

Back with Shatter, her optics widened at the sight of the Kremzeek landing in front of her but instantly readied her blaster to shoot it once the surprise wore off. The electrical monstrosity grinned as it prepared to lunge towards the hunter when...

"There's the intruder!" Onslaught shouted.

The Kremzeek turned towards the source of the voice to see the Combaticon leader with the rest of his team, Brawl, Swindle, Vortex, and Blast Off, each with their weapons at the ready.

"Combaticons, open fire!" Onslaught commanded.

He and his team proceeded to fire five shots from their weapons at the Kremzeek, each of them making their mark and causing the creature to explode. However, any hopes of victory were quickly dashed when the sparks reformatted into five smaller Kremzeeks that each started to hover upward as they stared at the Combaticons.

"Kremzeek!" the five of them shouted in unison before flying towards their targets.

"Return fire! Return fire!" Onslaught ordered.

His troops did as they were ordered and began to fire their weapons at the now five creatures. Shatter, caught in the middle of this, quickly evaded her allies' offensive before sprinting in the opposite direction, all the while the Kremzeeks absorbed themselves into the five Combaticons. The Decepticon commandos' torsos began to spin wildly as sparks started to fly before Brawl and Blast Off jumped up into the ceiling and Swindle and Vortex were knocked out by Onslaught's fists right before he himself collapsed onto the floor.

While that was going on, Shatter immediately activated her COMM as she continued to run down the halls.

"Thundercracker, Skywarp, get that pompous pile of scrap you call a leader off of Megatron's throne so he can do something about this!" she shouted.

* * *

Five minutes later, Shatter, now joined by Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp looked upon the sight of their fellow Decepticons in stasis lock, each no doubt victims of the tiny, electric nuisance as it continued its feeding frenzy across the Nemesis.

"How did this happen?!" Starscream demanded.

"Some unknown type of creature that feeds off of electrical energy must have somehow found its way into our vessel," Shatter answered as she displayed surveillance footage of the Kremzeek's rampage. "It clearly isn't any of the aquatic-based lifeforms that live amongst us here."

"How'd it get past our defenses?" Skywarp questioned.

"Who cares?!" Starscream interrupted before Shatter could answer. "We need to focus on getting that thing as far away from us as possible!"

The Seeker then proceeded to activate his COMM device.

"Starscream to any available Decepticons onboard, assemble at once!" he ordered. "Does anyone read me?"

No response.

"Hello?!" Starscream exclaimed. "Answer me, you worthless clunkers!"

"If you would have allowed me to continue, I might have mentioned that the four of us are the only Decepticon life signs I could detect," Shatter interrupted.

"If that's the case, then how come that little bastard hasn't come after us by now?" Thundercracker asked. "Unless..."

It took him all of a few nanokliks to put two and two together.

"THE SUPERCOMPUTER!" he yelled in horror.

Those two simple words were enough to cause his fellow Decepticons' optics to widen in terror before the four of them made a b-line for the bridge.

The instant the four Decepticons stepped foot in the bridge, their optics were greeted by their main supercomputer displaying a static image of the Kremzeek as sparks shot out of the holes the creature no doubt chewed to make it into the console.

"Oh, Megatron's gonna have our afterburners when he comes back!" a panicking Thundercracker stated, almost as if he was a child that had broken his parents' priceless vase.

Hearing the Seeker's voice prompted the Kremzeek to shoot out of the screen, causing it to shatter as it did so.

"Kremzeek!" it shouted before lunging itself towards Skywarp, who immediately teleported out of its path.

The confused electrical monster then slammed itself against the wall before turning to see the Seeker it had tried to make a meal out of standing next to the broken supercomputer's consoles. It made another attempt at his chassis, only for him to teleport again.

"Kremzeek!" the creature exclaimed in a much more angered tone as it landed on the floor.

"Skywarp, keep it busy while I go find a circuit trap!" Starscream commanded.

"Wait, so I'm the fraggin' bait?!" Skywarp yelled before teleporting away from the Kremzeek yet again.

Upon reappearing in the bridge, the purple-clad Seeker had discovered that Starscream, in his typical cowardly fashion, had already run out of the room. He couldn't help but roll his optics at the sight before noticing the Kremzeek leaping towards him yet again on his left. With a frightened yell, Skywarp managed to disappear right when the monster was just inches away from his chest. He managed to keep this up another four times all while the Kremzeek got more and more irritated.

"Kremzeek! Kremzeek! Kremzeek!" it snarled.

Then, just as he reappeared once again, Skywarp noticed Starscream running back into the bridge, an open circuit trap in his hands.

"Now we just need to figure out how to lure that thing into here," the acting leader stated. "But how-WHAT THE-!"

He was suddenly interrupted by Thundercracker, who proceeded to grab onto Starscream and lift him over his shoulders.

"Put me down you imbecile!" he shouted.

"Hey, you!" Thundercracker called out.

The Kremzeek ceased its next attempt on Skywarp's spark to turn to the one who addressed it.

"One fresh, hot Seeker, on the house!" the blue-clad Seeker continued.

"NO, NO, LET ME GO!" Starscream exclaimed. "I COMMAND YOU!"

Seeing said Seeker being practically offered to it caused the Kremzeek to smile hungrily.

"KREMZEEK!" it yelled before flying towards Starscream.

Acting quickly, the second-in-command of the Decepticons proceeded to point the open circuit trap towards the sparking monstrosity, causing it to smash its face onto the bottom of the box. Starscream then instantly closed the trap before pressing a button, all while Thundercracker finally set him down. The box started to rumble for a bit as the Kremzeek desperately tried in vain to escape, but it was all for not as, after a few seconds, the struggles ceased.

"Finally, I didn't think that annoying little electro-scraplet would ever shut u-" Thundercracker attempted to say, only for Starscream's fist slamming against his face to interrupt him.

"IDIOT!" he shouted as his subordinate stumbled backward. "That thing could've killed me if I hadn't have trapped it!"

"Yeah, well now you know what it's like to be bait, you-!" Skywarp angrily retaliated as he stomped towards his superior, only for Shatter to get in between them and stop a fistfight from erupting.

"Stop it!" she yelled. "What matters is that we've captured this creature. Now we need to figure out what to do with it."

"DO NOT tell me what to do, Shatter," Starscream angrily retorted. "I am your leader!"

"TEMPORARY leader...fortunately," Shatter sternly reminded.

All Starscream could do was sneer in contempt before turning his attention back to his captured prize.

"As annoying as this thing is, it does intrigue me," he stated. "I say we let it out at the closest oil refinery to America's shores and follow it from a safe distance."

"Why?" a confused Thundercracker asked. "I say we just leave it at the Autobots' doorstep. Let it be their problem."

"I'll keep that as an option, but first I want to find out where this creature came from," Starscream answered. "Maybe there's something far more to it than meets the eye."

He then turned his attention back to his fellow Decepticons.

"Go and get Soundwave and Knock Out to the infirmary. Let the repair drones do their work to bring them back online. Afterward, we depart."

Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Shatter each nodded once before turning to leave the bridge, all while Starscream looked back down at the circuit trap with a look of sinister interest on his face.

* * *

"FIREBALL!"

The second Rumble McSkirmish's projectile made its mark on Dr. Karate's chest, the evildoer was instantly sent flying towards an abandoned warehouse, smashing through the wall and into the building. Amidst the rubble, the one-eyed man angrily shot back up before flying towards his enemy, who in turn started charging towards him. Then, right before their fight could continue, a laser blast shot the ground between the two of them, causing them to stop dead in their tracks.

"What's this?!" Rumble exclaimed.

He and Dr. Karate turned to an alleyway to see a woman approaching them with short blonde hair, wearing a black and red suit of futuristic armor and carrying a laser rifle that had smoke coming out of the barrel, confirming that she was the one who fired the shot. Behind her was a yellow-skinned man that had a brown buzzcut and a pair of boxing gloves on as well as a one-eyed being wearing a cloak and a wide-brimmed hat and carrying a sword.

"Mind if we join?" the woman asked before readying the pump on her rifle.

* * *

As High Five continued to watch the trailer play out on his phone, the logo 'Fight Fighters V' suddenly appeared on the screen before cutting to the words 'Pre-order now to play as Sergeant Calhoun, Grave Puncher, and Vampire Piggy Hunter' at the bottom.

"Oh...my God!" an ecstatic Five commented. "Miko, we've gotta pre-order this game!"

Strangely though, while Five was overly hyped, Miko, who was normally the more energetic of the duo, seemed a bit more apprehensive, much to Hector's confusion.

"Yeah, I, uh, I dunno, Five," she stated. "I-"

"Miko, the woman from Hero's Duty, the Grave Puncher, and the Vampire Pig Slayer are gonna be guest characters in Fight Fight Fighters V and you're not stoked?!" Hector interrupted.

"Five, Calhoun's going to be a fighting game character with a gun," Miko explained.

"Yeah, and?" a perplexed Five questioned. "That's kinda her schtick."

"Dude, when devs code a fighting game character with a long-ranged weapon, things could go one of two ways," Miko answered. "Either it's really fun, well balanced, and a cool change of pace, or...well..."

Then, the blue-haired Glitch Tech pulled out a flashlight from her and Hector's van's glove compartment and shined it from bellow her chin, almost as if she was about to tell a ghost story.

"Did you ever hear the tragedies of those unfortunate enough to encounter...Deathstroke the Spammer?" she asked, putting on her best 'Emperor' voice as she did so.

"...Uh...no?" a visibly confused Five answered.

"I thought not...They likely aren't stories Ed Boon would like to remember," Miko replied. "When the first Injustice came out, it came packaged with a character with a specific move set so unbalanced, so unbelievably CHE-"

With those last few words, Miko broke out of her impersonation and went back to her, now clearly enraged, voice, clutching the flashlight tightly as she did so, before breathing deeply to try and calm herself down.

"Ahem, it didn't take long for a bunch of trolls to figure out a specific combination of attacks with this character that would allow them to attack the other player from a distance and time it SO PERFECTLY that said other player could do nothing but get hit and fall over, and over, and over again the INSTANT their block faltered."

She then shut off her flashlight and turned to her partner.

"I'd know Five. I was one of them...I WAS ONE OF THEM!"

* * *

_"WHAT?! No, NO, NO! STOP! AAAHH! C'mon, Harley! Get up, get up, get up! NO!"_

_"DEATHSTROKE WINS."_

_"UGH! Who the heck even finds this fun?! You're just 'Oh, look at me, I'm a noob! I'm gonna hide in the corner and JUST KEEP SHOOTING AT THE OTHER GUY CAUSE I SUCK!'"_

* * *

_"Alright, gonna-WHA-WHAT WAS THAT?! How is this even working anyway?! I'm Superman now! THESE STUPID BULLETS SHOULDN'T EVEN WORK! Stop!...STOP! GIMME A CHA-!"_

_"DEATHSTROKE WINS."_

_"RRRRRRRRR!"_

_Suddenly, a snapping sound broke Miko out of her fury. She looked down to see that she had broken her controller in two._

_"There goes another one," she said with a sigh before throwing the two pieces at an alarmingly large pile of broken controllers._

* * *

_"I swear, if you, NO! None of that! HA! Almost there, almost the-CRAP! I DIDN'T BLOCK! No, no, NO, NO, NO! QUIT IT! Don't you dare! DON'T! YOU! DARE!"_

_"DEATHSTROKE WINS."_

_"GAAAAAAAAH!"_

_In a fit of rage, Miko blindly threw her controller to her right...only for a shattering sound to immediately cause her to regret that decision and place her hands on her mouth as she let out a frightful gasp, her skin practically turned white._

_"...Did you...did you throw your controller out the window?!" the player on the other side asked as he desperately tried not to burst out laughing._

_"Ohhhhhh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, nooooooo, Mom's gonna kill me, Mom's gonna kill me," a panicking Miko said as she started circling her room._

* * *

"Many controllers and a windowpane were broken in those years," Miko continued as she clenched her arms around her knees, a distraught look in her eyes. "I couldn't even go near anyone in the servers who was Deadshot for weeks when the sequel came out. I couldn't go back, Five. I COULDN'T GO BACK!"

"C'mon, Miko, relax," Hector reassured his friend. "If that debacle was as infamous as you say it was, I'm sure the devs will fix her coding to make sure something like that'll never happen again."

"Like how EA promised they'd fix Battlefront II?" Miko pointed out.

"...Point taken," Five replied.

Before the two of them could continue with their conversation, however, a beeping sound interrupted them. They looked down to their van's GPS to see a small, red dot flashing on a location nearby.

"GLITCH DETECTED," their A.I. stated.

"Alright!" a now enthusiastic Miko cheered. "You ready for this, partner?"

"Oh, you know I am!" her friend answered whilst high-fiving her.

With that, their van proceeded to drive off towards its destination, the duo ready to combat this new glitch...unaware that they were being watched the whole time.

"They're pursuing the creature," Shatter, in her muscle car mode, reported through her COMM.

"Can you trace them?" Thundercracker asked from the other side.

The female triple-changer gave off a devious chuckle before replying.

"Already am," she answered before driving off in pursuit of the Glitch Techs.

* * *

Pandemonium ran rampant through the streets of Bailley. Cars were on fire, traffic lights flickered rapidly, and sparks continued to fly out of virtually everything that had any form of wires or circuitry built into them. The people caught in the middle could only run away from the scene, almost as though a Kaiju had stepped foot into their town, while the Kremzeek continued to bounce across several electrical devices, feeding off their power and leaving only a broken-down mess in its wake.

"KREMZEEK!" the creature shouted as it practically exploded out of a used electronics store.

The electrical creature's destructive rampage then came to a halt as it practically sniffing the air, almost as though it could smell the nearby circuits for him to chew on. With a hunger-filled grin, it turned itself around to see both Miko and Hector stepping out of their van, their gear forming around them, looking up at the floating glitch that had wreaked so much havoc.

"Okay, a sparky gremlin," Miko surmised before turning to her partner. "Well, he sure doesn't seem to mind the sun, but let's not get him wet or feed him after midnight just to be safe."

The young Glitch Tech proceeded to point her gauntlet towards the Kremzeek, much to Five's horror.

"No, Miko, wait!" he tried to say.

Her friend's efforts were in vain, however, as Miko then shot out an energy blast from her gauntlet, which flew towards her target and made its mark on the sparky monster's body. The energetic girl was about to let out a cheer, only for her victorious expression to transition of one of confusion. For when the smoke and dust finally settled, five Kremzeeks were revealed before her eyes.

"...You saw that I didn't shoot him with water, right?" she asked Five, not believing her eyes.

Before Hector could answer her though, the Kremzeeks lunged towards Miko, prompting her to yelp out in surprise before they made it to her gauntlet. Sparks began to shoot out of it as Miko desperately tried to shake the mischievous creatures out. After a few seconds, the five Kremzeeks shot out of the gauntlet and immediately flew towards their next meal: A street light.

"Okay, I thought you were kinda cute at first, but this means war!" Miko angrily yelled.

She then pointed her gauntlet towards the lamp post, only for her to notice the cracked, blank screen, burn marks, and hanging wires of her now-useless weapon.

"Aw, nerds, not again!" she groaned.

"Miko, that thing was a Kremzeek," Five explained. "It's a virus that feeds off of electricity from anything that's even remotely technological and makes them completely malfunction in the process."

"So I've seen," Miko dryly remarked. "But how the heck did it just multiply like that?!"

"The game it came from is an Asteroids clone," Hector answered. "Shoot it and it breaks off into multiple fragments."

"Well, then how do we beat it?" Miko questioned as she noticed the light bulb in the street lamp exploding and the Kremzeeks flying off in search of their next snack.

"There's a power-up in the game that can disperse the energy those things are made of," her friend answered as he pulled up a power-up menu on his gauntlet. "It's the only thing that can get rid of them, but I'm gonna need them off my back long enough to power up my gauntlet."

"Oh, I can do just that," Miko stated with a confident smirk on her face.

"How-" Hector attempted to question, only to see that Miko had already run back into the van. A few seconds later, a bright light emerged from the cracks of its back door before the talon of Miko's digital pet bird, Ally, kicked it open, Miko riding on top of her, clearly having summoned her using the van since her gauntlet was damaged.

"Hi-yo, Ally! Away!"

With that battle call uttered, Ally let out a sqwack before whilst her master deployed her jet pack from her gauntlet, flying towards the still-famished Kremzeeks.

Meanwhile, said glitches were currently feasting upon a motorcycle, ripping it apart from the inside, when the sound of someone whistling caught their attention. The five of them turned towards the source of the sound just in time to see Miko and Ally swoop past them from above, the wind knocking them onto their backs. The now irritated creatures then got back on their feet and looked up to see the digital bird floating above them, Miko still on her back.

"Catch me if you can!" Miko taunted.

The Kremzeeks responded by lunging towards the young Glitch Tech, only for Ally to teleport away the second before they could reach her. This caused their red eyes to widen in bewilderment before smashing against the wall of a nearby building, merging back into one Kremzeek in the process. The now one Kremzeek heard that same whistling from Miko again and angrily turned to see Miko, on Ally's back, waving to it.

"Hey, what are you doing over there?! We're over here!" she called out.

"KREMZEEK!" the Kremzeek growled before flying towards its target once more, Ally quickly flying away from it before it could reach her or her master.

With the glitch now occupied with other matters, Five immediately started to scroll down a list of various power-ups.

"Okay, let's see, fire flower, wumpa fruit, butterfly, porkchop, aha! Energy-magnet!"

Once he had found what he was looking for, and with the press of a button, his gauntlet's energy blaster started to glow a vibrant shade of orange, indicating that the power-up had been a success.

"All set, Miko!" he called out to his friend.

"Good, cause this Pikachu reject's on me tight!" Miko responded as the Kremzeek got closer and closer to Ally.

The glitch got closer and closer to his target as it dived down towards the ground, grinning wider and wider as it did so when the digital bird suddenly swooped upward the instant before the Kremzeek could grab her. Its red eyes widened in surprise before noticing that it was barreling towards Hector, who pointed his gauntlet towards it.

"Open wide and say 'Aaah!'" he quipped before firing a bright orange blast from his weapon.

The Kremzeek shrieked in terror as it tried to slow down but to no avail. For the energy blast hit it right on its chest, causing sparks to practically explode from the creature as it started to frizzle in and out of existence.

"K-K-KRE-E-E-EMZ-Z-Z-ZEEEEEK!" it was able to let out before exploding in a wave of electrical energies.

Miko and Ally then landed right beside Hector, the two humans shielding their eyes from the explosion before the dust settled to reveal a bouncing streak of digital energy attempting to arc its way towards a nearby car.

"Oh, no you don't!" Five declared.

The teen Glitch Tech proceeded to point his open palm towards the streak, a device in his gauntlet beginning to suck it towards him as it attempted to flee. After a struggle that lasted a few seconds, though, Hector's efforts pulled through and the glitch was pulled into a trap built into his gauntlet.

"GLITCH CONTAINED," the A.I. built into his weapon stated before letting out a distinctive chime.

Victorious, the two Techs then proceeded to fist bump each other.

"Pound it," they said in unison, obviously in reference to a certain duo of Parisian superheroes.

However, as they celebrated, neither of them were aware that someone had watched everything transpire, completely hidden in plain sight.

"Starscream, did you get any of that?" Shatter questioned.

* * *

High above Bailley in the skies above, an intrigued Starscream continued to circle around the city in his jet mode, Thundercracker and Skywarp flying beside him.

"That I did, Shatter," the Seeker answered before audio of one of the Glitch Techs began playing through his COMM-device.

"Well, better get started resetting everyone, then head back to the store and get this gauntlet fixed...again," Miko stated before breathing a sigh of relief. "Man, I'm SO lucky Phil can get these fixed so easily. Half my paycheck might've gone towards getting duct tape at S-Mart every Tuesday otherwise."

"It sounds like they're about to head back to their base of operations," Shatter reported.

"Follow them from a distance," Starscream ordered. "These humans obviously possess something of interest. Maybe even something of great power. They may very well have just what we need to defeat the Autobots."

'And usurp Megatron, while I'm at it,' he added in his thoughts.

"Report once you have discovered their base," he continued. "We will plan our attack then."

"At once," the female triple-changer replied.

Then, as her COMM channel closed, another opened. This one coming all the way from the wreckage of the Nemesis.

"STARSCREAM, REACTIVATION PROCESS OF KNOCK OUT AND MYSELF HAS BEEN COMPLETED," Soundwave reported.

'Oh, joy,' the Seeker couldn't help but sarcastically remark in his thoughts.

"Soundwave, it is good to hear of your speedy recovery," he just barely managed to say, lying per usual. "We have just made a rather...interesting discovery that I am certain you would like to hear."

* * *

Once the trio of Seekers made it back to their base, Starscream explained to both Soundwave and Knock Out what had happened in the past couple of hours. From the intruding glitch to these perplexing humans wielding some kind of power designed to deal with those such as the creature they had encountered. Yet, during all this, one unyielding course of action was all that was in Soundwave's cortex.

"MEGATRON MUST BE INFORMED OF THESE DEVELOPMENTS," he stated.

Hearing those words prompted Starscream to use every ounce of willpower he had to not widen his optics in terror. He knew from experience that if his superior was to return to see the Nemesis and his troops in such a state of disarray in his leadership, the consequences would be quite severe.

"But-but we can't!" he countered. "We shouldn't disturb our leader from his meeting with that infernal commander! Besides, I am more than capable of leading us through this mission."

"Ha!" Thundercracker chided. "Now that's a good one, Screamer."

"Silence!" an enraged Starscream shouted.

"So, 'fearless leader,' what's the plan then?" Knock Out questioned. "If we mount an attack on those humans' base, the Autobots will probably be on our bumpers in a spark-beat."

"Then we'll have to figure out a means to keep them occupied for the meantime," Starscream replied, all while placing a hand on his chin in deep concentration, trying to figure out just what he could use against his enemies.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted when Shatter opened a communications channel to him.

"Starscream, I believe I may have located the humans' base," she informed. "It appears to be under the guise of what they call a 'gaming store.' The humans I bore witness to are taking the device they subdued the creature with inside."

As he heard this report, a smirk slowly started to form on Starscream's face.

"Perfect," he said. "It seems as though your suggestion may actually come to pass, Thundercracker."

"Uh, what?" the blue-clad Seeker questioned, having forgotten just what he suggested.

"'Leave the creature at the Autobots' doorstep,' I believe you said," his superior answered.

"Yeah, little late for that, don't you think, gasket breath?" Skywarp insultingly brought up. "How are we suppose to get it without blowing the whole slaggin' building up and alerting the Autobots?"

"We'll just have to persuade one of these humans to release it," Starscream answered before turning back to his COMM. "Shatter, have the humans you observed entered the facility?"

"They have," Shatter answered. "Ah, but it seems another has just come out."

"Description?" the second-in-command of the Decepticons requested.

"Dark skin tone, white hair that looks like it has about two bottles of the humans' 'hair gel' in it, striding like he's trying to give Tracks a run for his money," Shatter answered. "Shall I commence our intimidation tactic?"

"No, I'll do the honors," Starscream answered with a devious grin on his face. "Relay the base's coordinates to myself and keep an eye on this human from afar. Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave, you're all with me."

"Wait, what am I suppose to do?" Knock Out questioned.

An annoyed Starscream let out a growl before turning to him.

"You're a medic. There are dozens of Decepticons still offline. FIGURE IT OUT!"

Before a bewildered Knock Out could respond, Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp immediately ran out of the bridge of the Nemesis, all while the Decepticon medic's expression of shock turned to one of anger.

"Rrrr, make me the fraggin' maid, huh?" he snarled as he stomped out of the bridge. "Don't expect your next check-up to go so smoothly, rust-coated, tin-plated-"

As he continued to mutter some...less than kind words about Starscream, Soundwave continued to stand in the ship's bridge, the crest in his forehead glowing once he was finally alone.

"MEGATRON MUST BE INFORMED."

* * *

"Welcome to Mama Miyamoto's Sp'gettiinabucket, where we put spaghetti in a buck-"

"Yeah, yeah, get me the usual, two mega buckets and two apple pies, kinda in a hurry here."

"That'll be $9.75."

Mitch was just about to pull his usual maneuver on the cashier, resetting her mind with his gauntlet to avoid paying for his lunch, only to stop halfway once he realized what he was doing. Not out of the 'kindness' in his heart, mind you, but instead remembering what would happen if he got caught. Thanks to two new recruits in the Glitch Techs, his questionable use of their tech nearly got him kicked to the curb by Phil, who just barely allowed him to keep his job due to his expertise in containing glitches, though not without installing a few patches to the Techs' gauntlets that would log any and all usage of them.

So, not wanting to risk getting fired, the egotistical gamer begrudgingly handed the cashier his money, only letting out an irritated grunt in response, and collected his food before driving off without so much as saying 'thank you.'

"Lousy, good for nothing, rotten, noobs," he muttered under his breath, referring to the two recruits that were inadvertently responsible for this new rule.

It wasn't unknown that Mitch held little respect for Hector and Miko. Often times showboating about the stronger glitches he had managed to catch, belittling them for their slow leveling progress, or occasionally catching a digital monster himself after allowing the two new recruits to do the hard work for him. Ever since he wiped Hector's memory in poor sportsmanship after losing to him and Miko in a gaming tournament held in this very city, as well as get completely humiliated when he was forced to rely on the two of them to save his skin from the Chomp Kitty glitch, he's always had a bone to pick with the two of them, and it seemed as though it'd last so long as the three of them were each others' co-workers, all thanks to his unmatched ego.

However, said ego would not be unmatched for much longer.

As he continued to drive through the streets with that same annoyed look on his face, the sounds of an incoming jet engine could be heard from outside, though, in his current state, Mitch paid absolutely no mind to it. Then, loud 'thump' sound was heard, startling the Glitch Tech right before the van he was driving suddenly shot up towards the skies above. He let out a high-pitched shriek of terror as the van went higher and higher before readying his gauntlet for combat.

"I don't know what kinda glitch you think you are, but you have til the count of three before I start frying your pixels, you half-bit blueberry!" he angrily shouted.

"Oh, well since you asked so nicely..." a voice replied.

Without warning, whatever was holding onto the van released its grip, allowing the vehicle to begin plummeting down towards the city below. Yet again, Mitch let out a horrified scream as the ground got closer and closer, all while he frantically tried to activate his van's portal gun, less he wishes to be a splattered junk pile and halfway under the street. Then, right before he could utilize his portal gun, something caught the van in mid-air, causing the Tech's seat belt to snap and for him to fall harshly onto the windshield. He groaned in pain before opening his eyes and seeing something that made his blood run cold: Starscream glaring right at him from outside.

"I'd choose your next words a little bit more carefully if I were you, you repugnant pile of protoplasm," the Decepticon warned.

Usually, Mitch would retort against such an insult driven towards him to bolster his arrogance, but he was unable to due to him currently being preoccupied with hyperventilating in sheer horror at the sight of the Decepticons' air commander right in his face. His hometown may have never had an encounter with an evil the likes of the sinister race of Cybertronians, but the infamy of Megatron and his warriors was practically legendary at this rate, so the Glitch Tech, for once, didn't dare make any attempt to upstage or intimidate the Seeker.

"Wha-Wha-What do you want with me?!" he just barely managed to say.

"I'll cut right to the chase, human," Starscream answered. "If you wish to live to see another day of your sad, miserable existence, you will return to your base and set free the creature your colleagues captured earlier today."

Hearing the Seeker's demands caused Mitch's eyebrow to raise in an offended manner.

"Okay, first of all, those stupid griefers are NOT my colleagues," he corrected. "Second, do you seriously expect me to just waltz in there and release a pixelated nightmare back into the wild?!"

"Oh, I certainly do," Starscream answered. "Or..."

The Seeker proceeded to balance the van with his left hand while positioning his right arm to where the Null Ray mounted on top was pointing right at the driver's side door. To further emphasize his point, Starscream began charging up his weapon right beside a now petrified Mitch, whose skin nearly turned white at this sudden turn of events.

"Fortunately, I'm feeling generous today, so I'll give you til the count of FIVE," the air commander continued.

"O-Okay, okay, okay, please don't kill me!" Mitch pleaded. "I'll do it!"

Hearing this human's submission caused Starscream's mouth to curve into a devious smirk.

"As I anticipated," he said.

Then, a compartment in his arm opened, revealing a small, spider-like drone the Decepticons called 'Scalpel' that quickly crawled into the van and latched itself onto the left arm of a now very confused Mitch. He tried to shake it off, but it was no use, as Scalpel had instantly transformed itself into a watch that seemed as though it was made in the 80's. Needless to say, seeing this outdated piece of technology on his arm caused the egotistical Glitch Tech to grimace at the sight.

"What the hell is this?" he asked in an irritable tone, pointing to the disguised drone as he did so.

"A means to keep an eye on you," Starscream answered. "That drone will not only set the creature free once it detects its energy signal, but it's also a tracking device that doubles as a remote activated bomb. If at any point you do something foolish, I can have it detonate at a moment's notice. Try to remove it, boom. Try to run, boom. Try to warn your superiors, boom! Understand?"

"...Uh-huh..." Mitch meekly answered.

"Good," Starscream responded...right before releasing his grip on Mitch's van.

The Decepticon looked down as the vehicle continued its descent, hearing a yelp of fright from the human before a portal opened bellow it, allowing it to safely land on the ground before driving off. Once the portal vanished, Starscream couldn't help but sigh in relief.

"Finally," he said to himself. "That fleshbag's whining was starting to get on my nerves."

"Pot, kettle," Shatter suddenly said via her COMM-device on the other side.

"SHUT UP!" Starscream shouted, hearing Thundercracker and Skywarp burst into a fit of laughter as he did so.

* * *

Soon afterward, inside the Glitch Techs' HQ hidden within the Hinobi Store, Miko and Hector had just deposited the Kremzeek and other glitches they had captured into the central hub and observed the leaderboard from above, watching as their XP total got higher and higher. Upon seeing her current status, a beaming smile formed on Miko's face.

"Yes!" she cheered as she high fived her friend. "Just a few more points and that BFG's as good as mine, baby!"

Before Five could say anything in response, however, he noticed something, or rather, someone, entering the HQ.

"Uh-oh, Miko, look who it is," he said.

The young Glitch Tech proceeded to turn to the direction Hector was looking at and, sure enough, saw Mitch seemingly approaching them.

"Oh, shmup," she sighed. "Wonder what he's gonna say to try and lowball this one."

To her shock, though, their rival/co-worker simply sped walk past the two of them, not uttering a single word as he did so, all the while with what appeared to be a panicked expression on his face. To say this baffled both her and Five would be an understatement, as it was usually a daily routine for Mitch to try and belittle their efforts as much as he could.

"...Miko, I don't know why, but I've got a bad feeling about that," Five admitted.

"C'mon, Five, we finally get a break from that dork and that's wha-" Miko attempted to reassure.

However, she immediately stopped when she saw what appeared to be an old, 1980's watch on Mitch's wrist.

"...Oooookay, never mind, this does NOT bode well."

* * *

Several minutes afterward, the still visibly petrified Glitch Tech continued to carefully sneak his way through the hallways, hopeful that no one would see him and that he wouldn't seem to veer even slightly off course in the optics of his aggressor. Cold sweat poured profusely on his face as he quickly hid into a nearby corner while Zahra and Haneesh walked down the hallway. Thankfully, at least to Mitch, they failed to notice him and he quickly continued down the halls until he reached the doors to the simulation room.

"Alright, you might be able to get the glitch out through here," he whispered to the drone on his arm. "Now I just nee-"

He was rudely interrupted, however, when Scalpel jumped off of Mitch's arm, much to his surprise, and transformed before latching himself onto the center of the door. The spider-like drone then drilled one of its legs into it, a small, blue beam of energy shooting out, causing the doors to open and for Scalpel to fall to the floor, the former rather loudly, much to the egotistical Glitch Tech's horror and anger.

"No, no, you microchipped moron! Somebody's sure to-"

"Zahra, did you hear that?!"

"It sounds like it came from the training room!"

With a panicked yelp, Mitch immediately sprinted down the hallways, praying no one saw him, all while Scalpel entered the room with the doors closing behind him.

* * *

Once inside, the drone immediately climbed onto one of the room's many consoles and inserted his drill into a nearby USB slot, using his cortex to scan through the base's computer systems.

"Must find ze creature!" Scalpel proclaimed in an oddly cartoonish, german-like accent. "Release ze creature!"

Without warning, a series of alarms began to blare inside the simulation room, prompting the tiny Decepticon to jump slightly.

"Quickly, quickly!" he said, knowing now that time was short and that these humans would likely attempt to input their systems' security measures any minute. "Almost there!"

Then, the mere second before the screens went black, a series of sparks shot out of the consoles before the Kremzeek shot out of them, free to terrorize the public once more.

"Kremzeek!" it snarled before setting its eyes on Scalpel.

"Skyvarp, now!" Scalpel shouted.

The glitch was ready to lunge towards the small Decepticon, only to stop right before it could, sniffing upwards at a new, electrical scent it had sensed.

"Kremzeek?" it said before arcing itself up to the ceiling, much to Scalpel's relief.

"Mission complete," he said. "Must retreat immedia-"

His words, and his life, however, were cut short when an energy blast from behind hit him in the head, causing it to burst into pieces and for the drone's lifeless body to slump back down to the floor. Behind it was Haneesh and Zahra, smoke emanating from the latter's gauntlet and both with a look of shock in their eyes as the pieces of the drone's head scattered across the floor.

"Glitches aren't supposed to do that!" Haneesh pointed out.

Upon that realization, Zahra carefully stepped towards the small body of the drone, bending down to try and get a better look at it before noticing something that caused her eyes to widen even more than they already were.

"Haneesh, I don't think that was a glitch," she said.

To emphasize her point, she picked up a piece of Scalpel's chest and showed it to her friend, one detail immediately catching his eye: the dreaded insignia of the Decepticons.

* * *

While that was going on, Skywarp continued to hover high above the building, carrying the circuit trap he and his fellow Decepticons had used to trap the Kremzeek with a dejected look in his optics.

"Oh, sure, let's just make Skywarp the damn bait again!" he complained, his voice laced with sarcasm before thinking to himself 'I swear to Primus, I hope Megatron rearranges Starscream's circuitry when he gets back.'

As he continued to think about how his leader would punish his deceptive second-in-command for this mess, however, a familiar shriek caused him to snap out of his thoughts.

"KREMZEEK!"

Sure enough, the black and purple-clad Seeker looked down to see the glitch that had started this entire debacle flying towards him.

"Not this time, you little..." he muttered before thrusting the open circuit trap forward.

Seeing its former prison caused the electrical monstrosity's eyes to widen in terror as it attempted to cease its flight.

"Kremzeek!" it cried out before smashing into the circuit trap.

Wasting no time, Skywarp quickly closed the trap and activated it, imprisoning the glitch once more, before activating his COMM device.

"Starscream, the package is ready for delivery," he reported.

"Excellent!" Starscream responded from the other side. "Ensure that the Autobots get their package in a 'timely manner.'"

Nodding once, Skywarp proceeded to transform into his jet mode and fly off towards his destination.

* * *

"Ohhhh, that is not good," Phil stated.

When the director of Bailley's task force had been informed of something transpiring in the simulation room, he had assumed something fairly par for the course had happened. Say, a systems malfunction, a trainee or two sneaking in (wouldn't be the first time), or maybe even a glitch had managed to find its way out of its imprisonment.

What he did NOT expect was for Zahra to place the dead body of a Decepticon drone onto his desk, resulting in an emergency meeting with her, Haneesh, High Five, Miko, and Mitch.

"It all makes sense now," Zahra stated as she placed a hand on her chin. "That glitch I picked up earlier today that Five and Miko caught, there WAS something in the middle of the Pacific Ocean it could go to. It must've ended up finding its way into the Decepticons' base."

"Well, then that must mean they let that thing loose back here to-" Hector summarized, only for him to stop and for his eyes to widen in a slight panic. "Oh, nerds, they have to know about us by now!"

"What I want to know is how this thing even managed to get in here!" Phil interjected, pointing to Scalpel's body as he did so. "It couldn't have just walked in here, so either our security systems are in need of another upgrade or someone just let it in here!"

Suddenly, the Techs' manager noticed sweat practically pouring down a tense Mitch's face, something that his co-workers noticed as well.

"Uh, c-could've been anyone," he shrugged, trying and failing to get attention off of him.

"Mitch..." Phil sneered.

Suddenly, the egotistical Glitch Tech tried to bolt it for the door, only for Miko to immediately dash towards it and shut it before locking it.

"Something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?" she remarked.

"O-O-Okay, okay, okay!" Mitch relented as he turned back to his boss. "One of them ambushed me during my patrol and forced me to bring that thing in here or he'd blow me to bits!"

"Knew that watch was a red flag," Hector whispered to Miko as she went back to him.

"Why'd they just settle for a drone when they could have easily just ambushed us here though?" Zahra asked.

Then, without warning, the Glitch Techs' robotic assistant named BITT flew out of the air ducts of Phil's office, causing him to nearly jump out of his chair in fright.

"Alert! Alert! Glitch #528491, Kremzeek, is no longer contained!" the machine informed.

"BITT! Were you trying to give me a heart attack or something?!" Phil yelled. "We have a door for a reason!"

"I am aware of that, sir, but it seemed that the door was locked," BITT responded.

"Note to self: Install keys into BITT," Phil sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Anyway, where's the glitch now?"

"Scanners indicate that Kremzeek is currently heading for Utah at an alarming speed," BITT answered. "Estimated destination: Mount St. Hilary."

Hearing the name of the glitch's guessed destination, Miko's eyes suddenly widened in horror.

"Ohhhh, talk about a bull in a china shop," she said.

"Whadya mean?" Hector questioned.

"The Cons DID have a reason to just send a drone in here," Miko answered. "They wanted to get that glitch free again."

"What for?" Zahra asked.

"Think about it," Miko answered. "Five said that glitch feeds off of electricity. And Mount St. Hilary has a gold mine for that thing waiting at the bottom of it!"

* * *

Inside the wreckage of the Ark, still wedged into the bottom of the Mount St. Hilary volcano in Utah, Optimus Prime was busy speaking to two members of the Infinity League's science division, fellow Autobot Wheeljack and Sailor Mercury, via Teletraan 1 and Skyward Tower's hailing frequencies. Said conversation was about their progress regarding the recovered Kraang portals they had confiscated two and a half months ago from a team of villains that were now revealed to be in league with the notorious, demonic weapons dealer known simply as Black Hat. **[1]**

"Well, Optimus, we have good news and bad news about our progress," Ami reported.

"What's the good news, Sailor Mercury?" Optimus asked.

"We've managed to stop the portal from activating any more extra security measures," the guardian of wisdom answered.

"But, the bad news is that we still haven't figured out how to get this thing to stop rebooting what it HAS activated anytime we manage to deactivate something," Wheeljack added.

"How many have you managed to find?" Optimus asked.

"...Eight million, two hundred and eighty-one thousand, nine hundred and seventeen..." Sailor Mercury sheepishly answered.

"I swear to Primus, if we ever find Black Hat's hideout, I am going STRAIGHT for Flugg," Wheeljack angrily grumbled. "When I get my hands on that sack wearin'-"

"AAAAAAAAHHH! WATER! WATER! WATER!" a voice cried out, causing the three involved in this call to jump slightly.

"That sounded like Ibuki," Optimus pointed out. "I heard that she caught a cold earlier. What's going on?"

"Hold on, I think I know," Ami answered.

She then stepped out of the doors of the science lab quick enough to catch a glimpse of said teenage ninja barreling down the hallways like her life depended on it...and Ami could just barely detect small pieces of porridge on her lips. Sighing as she knew who was likely responsible, the Senshi of water then walked back to where she was standing previously to continue her call with Optimus.

"I think Venus might have tried to make rice porridge again," she stated.

"Ah, I see," Optimus replied.

"Mercury, no offense, you're friend's a good kid, but she's kind of a klutz," Wheeljack said. "Hoist must have the patience of a rock to keep her under his wing."

Since Minako had suggested taking up a volunteer position in the Tower's infirmary, due to her lack of medical expertise...as well as lack of other skills, **[2]** it was decided that the Autobots' secondary medic, Hoist, would help teach her a thing or two about his field of work, given Ratchet's already busy schedule as well as likely not having near as much patience for the guardian of love and beauty's good-natured but problematic antics.

"Anyway, we'll keep you...*yawn* we'll keep you updated if anything happens, Optimus," Ami said in an attempt to change the subject.

The instant she yawned, however, the Autobot leader noticed obvious signs of fatigue in the blue-haired girl's eyes.

"Mercury, how long have you been doing this?" he questioned.

"Oh, about...about twenty hours...give or take," Ami sleepily answered.

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off and get some rest?" Optimus suggested.

"Oh, no, no, Optimus, I...*yawn* I can probably go a few...a few more hours," Ami answered.

"Merc, we admire your dedication, but you humans need to get your sleep," Wheeljack countered before turning to the only other occupant in the lab. "Hey, Peridot, mind helping her to the teleporters?"

"Oh no!" the tiny Gem denied. "I am NOT leaving YOU of all Bots alone in here ever again."

The Autobot scientist simply sighed in annoyance in response, placing his hand onto his metal forehead.

"Blow up the lab ONE TIME and suddenly you're public enemy number one here," he muttered.

"Seven," Peridot corrected. "You blew it up SEVEN TIMES!"

"Okay, okay, I get the message!" Wheeljack replied, holding both of his hands up in defense before turning back to the Senshi of water. "C'mon, Merc, I'll beam you back down to Tokyo."

"Honestly, Wheeljack, I'll...I'll be...fine," an exhausted Sailor Mercury tried to counter.

"No, no, you go get some sleep first," Wheeljack responded. "And no, you can't sleep in here. Can't risk you sleepwalking into a cosmic rust vile or something."

Sighing in defeat, Ami finally relented and got up out of her seat, slouching towards the door whilst trying not to stay awake, with Wheeljack close behind.

"We'll keep you updated, Prime," the Autobot stated before heading off.

"Understood," Optimus replied before finally closing the hailing frequency.

Then, without warning, the instant communications with Skyward Tower were cut off, the Ark's alarm systems immediately started to go off, hinting towards one possible, ever-persistent threat to the Autobots.

"ALERT: DECEPTICON ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED," Teletraan 1 informed.

"On screen!" Optimus commanded.

The A.I. complied and switched the screen in front of Prime to one of the Ark's many security cameras. Sure enough, it managed to detect Skywarp flying towards the Autobot base. The fact that only one Decepticon was sent out to them bewildered the Autobot commander, only for his thoughts to be interrupted when he saw a hatch opening at the bottom of Skywarp's jet mode, sending a small box hurdling down towards the base's main gate.

"Teletraan 1, give me a visual on what Skywarp just dropped," he ordered.

The screen then switched to the main entrance's security camera, displaying before Prime a circuit trap fidgetting around on its own.

"What in the name of Cybertron?" the last Prime asked himself.

Suddenly, the circuit trap exploded, the dust slowly settling to reveal the Kremzeek launching itself towards the camera.

"Kremzeek!" it screeched.

Once the glitch reached the camera, somehow, to Optimus' utter bafflement, the creature phased through the screen and into the ship's bridge, the Autobot leader just barely having enough time to jump out of its path before it made it phased into the nearby door's control panel. Wanting to get to the bottom of whatever horror the Decepticons had unleashed upon both him and his brethren, Optimus quickly dashed towards the door, opening it and leaving the bridge in search of this creature.

* * *

"Skywarp to Starscream, package has been delivered," Skywarp reported as he continued to fly away from the Autobot base.

"Good," Starscream responded from his COMM device. "All available Decepticons, converge back at Bailley immediately! It's time to introduce these 'Glitch Techs' to their new management!"

* * *

"Okay, so let's recap," Hector said. "The Decepticons have a dangerous glitch at their disposal that they're about to drop on the Autobots AND know of us and where our base is, meaning now's the perfect time for them to gear up for a siege against us."

"...But?" Zahra thought she was saying for him.

"Oh, there's no 'but' here, just wanted to point out how utterly SCREWED WE ARE!" High Five shouted in a panic.

"Okay, okay, calm down, calm down!" Phil sternly ordered. "World we're living in right now, something like this was bound to happen at some point."

"Well, what's the plan, then, sir?" Haneesh asked. "We're trained to take down these rogue glitches. Alien robots that want to enslave us isn't exactly in our wheelhouse."

"Maybe some of us should go to the Ark and try and catch that glitch before it does some major damage to the Autobots," Five suggested. "If the Decepticons really are planning a raid, then I'm sure they'd be more than willing to help us."

"Good idea," Phil replied. "You and Miko go down there and bag that glitch again, then see if you can't get them to come back here."

"On it!" Miko and Hector responded in unison before immediately departing for their van.

"The rest of you go and close up shop early so we can get the customers out of any danger," Phil continued. "And if they ask...I don't know, say there's a bug in our registers or something. Just don't say anything about what's actually happening. Last thing we need is a riot on our hands."

Nodding once in understanding, both Zahra and Haneesh quickly exited Phil's office. Mitch was about to follow suit, but...

"Ah, ah, ah, not you, Mitch," he said, causing the Tech to practically freeze in terror.

"Phil, PLEASE don't fire me over this!" Mitch pleaded. "My choices were literally either live or die!"

"Relax, relax, Mitch, I get it," Phil replied. "If we survive this, you'll be back out hunting glitches in no time."

"BUT I-Wait, what?" a stunned Mitch asked.

"Oh, yeah," Phil responded, crossing his arms as he did so. "...AFTER you clean every single toilet in this building that is."

The mere thought forced Mitch to suppress himself from gagging in disgust.

* * *

Back at the Autobot base, the Kremzeek had quickly managed to find its way to one of the Ark's control decks, where Jazz, Camshaft, and Perceptor bore witness to the electric creature emerging from the nearby door's control panel.

"Kremzeek!" the glitch screeched before its baffled audience.

"What is that thing?!" Jazz asked.

"I don't know, but maybe this'll slow it down so we can find out," Camshaft answered as the cannon on his back started charging.

Two laser blasts then fired down at the Kremzeek, only for it to swiftly dodge both of them and shoot up towards Jazz, phasing into his forehead.

"What the-?!" he exclaimed.

Instantaneously, sparks started to fly out of the Autobots' first lieutenant as his circuits began to short out and his body violently started to fidget around before collapsing onto the floor. Afterward, the electric monstrosity shot out of Jazz and towards Perceptor, instantly phasing into his chassis and causing him to thrash about as well.

"GAH! Get out, you electromagnetic brute!" he shouted as he started to jump up and down uncontrollably.

The Autobot scientist was then knocked to the floor once the creature that had completely fried his circuits bolted out of his body and towards a terrified Camshaft, who had already grabbed a nearby table and tried to use it as a makeshift shield.

"Get back!" he yelled. "Back I say!"

Unfortunately, the Kremzeek had managed to burn right through the table and into Camshaft's spark, causing him to rapidly transform in and out of his vehicle mode as he cried out in pain and started to drive around in circles, eventually filling the entire room with smoke. The door to the room then opened, revealing Ratchet, Beachcomber, Mirage, Gears, Rack'n'Ruin, and Bluestreak dashing inside to try and see just what was making all this noise.

"Camshaft, what in the Pit's gotten into ya?!" Gears angrily shouted.

"Someone get this thing out of me! AAAAAAAAHHH!" the Autobot spy exclaimed as he continued to sporadically transform from robot to Mazda.

"What are you talking about?!" Bluestreak asked. "I don't see anything!"

Before he could answer though, the Omnibot crashed into one of the room's computers, causing the glitch that had ravaged his circuitry to fly towards the newcomers, managing to make it into Ratchet for its next meal. Before the medic could so much as speak, the glitch had already started to zap his wires, causing him to spin out of control as sparks burst out of his body before he too fell into stasis.

* * *

"Okay, I think that was the last one," Zahra reported on her communicator as she escorted one of the Hinobi Store's customers out of the building. "Let's-"

She was cut short, however, by the sounds of screaming coming from a distance. The normally sardonic Glitch Tech immediately turned her head to the source of the sound and saw people in the strip mall running for their lives as a tank started to slowly make its way into the area, crushing several cars with its treads as it did so. A gasp escaped the girl's lips the instant she saw the Decepticon symbol on the side of the tank's turret. Then, the sounds of jet engines from above caught her attention as she looked up to see three multicolored F-15's, a red VTOL jet, and a black and grey Saab Gripen descending towards the store.

"They're here..." was all Zahra said before dashing back into the store. "They're here! Get back! Get back!"

Wasting no time, Zahra, Phil, Haneesh, and Mitch quickly ran to the back of the store, immediately opening up several portal gates to their HQ at the lockers and jumping into them. Right on time as well, for the second the portal closed, the tank turned its turret towards the store and fired directly at it, the shell piercing through the gaming store before impacting the lockers, blowing a hole upon detonation. The explosion was so great that it knocked the four Glitch Techs onto their backs.

A cloud of thick smoke engulfed the main hub, hiding seven massive figured that approached the four humans before the cloud slowly faded, revealing Starscream, Soundwave, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Shatter, and two recently reactivated Decepticons, the Combaticon known as Brawl and the hunter called Nitro Zeus, standing before them.

"Nice base ya got here, meatbags," Nitro commented. "I think we'll take it!"

To emphasize his point, he started to charge up the massive arm cannon propped on his right arm and pointed it down at the disoriented Techs.

"So here's the deal. You geeks got ten seconds to vacate this dump before we start fraggin' everything in sight! One...TEN!"

* * *

Hearing the source of the chaos, Optimus sprinted towards the door that lead to the room the Kremzeek was no doubt inside. He could still hear the sounds of sparks arcing, metal bodies smashing into each other, and the occasional 'Kremzeek!' from the glitch.

"Oh no..." the Autobot commander said to himself, already beginning to fear the worst for his friends.

Suddenly, without warning, a portal opened a few yards away from him, prompting him to quickly turn around and ready his Ion Blaster, suspecting that Megatron had ground bridged an assault team into the Ark. However, it was not Prime's enemies that emerged from the opening. Rather, a van driven by two teenage humans practically shot out at full speed into the room, barreling straight for the Autobot leader.

"FIVE, INCOMING, INCOMING!" Miko shouted. "TURN, TURN!"

In response to this sudden development, Optimus quickly jumped out of the van's way right before it crashed into a wall, though thankfully the impact did not harm either Miko or High Five, nor did it do any substantial damage to their vehicle thanks to its advanced safety measures.

"...Whoever your driving instructor is going to be, Five...I pitty them..." a slightly disoriented Miko remarked.

The sounds of heavy, metal footsteps then snapped the two Glitch Techs out of their disorientation. They instantly got out of their vehicle and turned to see Optimus approach them as he retracted his weapon onto his back. A mixture of both awe and nervousness overtook Hector and Miko. On one hand, they now stood in the presence of one of Earth's greatest and revered champions...On the other hand, they did just break into his base without any warning whatsoever and crash their van in it.

"Do either of you require medical attention?" Optimus asked.

"Uh, n-no sir, we're fine!" a timid High Five answered before pointing his thumb back at his and Miko's van. "Uh, we're, we're not gonna need to exchange insurance for that, are we, sir?"

"No, don't worry about that," Optimus answered.

"Good, cause I, uh, I don't exactly have a driver's license, sir..." Hector meekly added.

"Not with those driving skills," Miko remarked.

"And you do not have to address me as 'sir,'" Prime reassured. "Just Optimus will do fine."

The nervousness that had previously nearly overtaken the Glitch Techs' bodies then gave way to astonishment. Here and now, standing before them, was Optimus Prime himself. Leader of the Autobots, one of the seven leaders of the Infinity League, and possibly the shining example of justice and heroism for the entire world. Practically the closest this reality had to Superman himself protecting it.

"That being said, there's still the matter of who you two are and why you're here," the Autobot leader continued, snapping the two humans' state of astonishment.

"Oh! Right, that," Hector responded. "You see, si-Optimus, we-"

"KREMZEEK!"

The instant that dreaded shriek was heard, Prime, Miko, and Hector all turned back to the door just in time to see the glitch burn a hole through it and land right in front of the three of him, setting its red eyes on Optimus.

"THAT would why we're here," Miko stated.

"You know what that creature is?" Optimus questioned.

"Yum, yum!" the Kremzeek said before lunging towards the Autobot commander.

"Not this time, sparkles!" Miko exclaimed as she and Five jumped in front of Optimus, charging their gauntlets as they did so.

Recollections of how it was captured flooded the creature's mind as a look of horror overtook its face. The Glitch Techs then fired several blasts of the power-up Hector had previously used to put an end to the tiny monstrosity's rampage, only for it to quickly evade each and every one of them. It then turned towards Miko, eyeing the gauntlet in her right hand that it had previously made a snack of, and hurdled towards it, only for a laser blast to force it to stop dead in its tracks. The glitch turned towards the source of the blast, noticing Optimus standing a few meters away, smoke coming out of his Ion Blaster, before giving a hungry snarl to the last Prime.

Fortunately, Hector was able to hear the snarl amidst the chaos, and, with an idea flashing in his head, quickly pulled up his gauntlet's menu and searched for something called 'Insulator Shield.' Once he found what he was looking for, he took aim not at the Kremzeek, but Prime, and shot out a foam-like substance that quickly engulfed the Autobot commander, who was obviously caught off guard by this action. However, the second before he could question this, the Kremzeek shot itself towards his chassis, only for it to bounce off of it and fall back roughly to the floor.

"Kremzeek?" it uttered before trying once more to infiltrate the mechanical being's circuits, only for him to grab it with his bare hands.

"What did you do to him?" a perplexed Miko asked her friend.

"There's another power-up in the game that acts as a shield to protect you from these viruses," High Five answered.

"It seems to be working for the moment," Optimus commented as he continued to hold onto the struggling glitch.

But, no sooner than when he said that, the creature proceeded to arc its way out of Prime's hands and immediately dashed towards one of the nearby doors. Both Glitch Techs and the Autobot leader gave chase, only for it to vanish into the door's control panel.

"Shmup, it got away!" Miko exclaimed.

"We'll have to worry about it later," Prime stated. "First, we'll need to insulate any Autobots that hadn't been shorted out by that thing."

* * *

Moments later, Hector was busy spraying the insulator power-up in his gauntlet upon the only Autobots that had avoided the Kremzeek's wrath while their commander brought them up to speed on just what in the name of Primus was going on around here.

"Ironhide, Blaster, Trailbreaker, Moonracer, Tracks, Warpath, we're the only Autobots that are still operational," Optimus informed.

"Which begs the question, what's the-BLAM!-situation, boss?" Warpath asked. "One klik we're all perfectly operational, and the next,-ZAP!-everyone starts goin' crazier than me!"

"And, pardon me if I'm being rude, but who are they?" Tracks asked as he pointed down at Miko and Hector, speaking in an all-too-familiar snobbish tone to the two Glitch Techs.

"Oh boy, it's like Mitch in robot form, isn't it?" Five whispered.

"Another unfortunate victim of the Mitch-Pyre, it seems," Miko remarked.

"This is Hector and Miko," Optimus introduced. "They claim to have knowledge of the creature the Decepticons had brought to us."

"Well, we're all auditory receptors, so let's hear it," Ironhide responded.

"Okay, so, uh...ah, jeez, where do I even start with this?" Five asked himself as he scratched the back of his head. "Okay, here's the gist of it. It's a video game glitch that manifested into the real world."

"...Come again?" a stunned Moonracer asked, noticing the similar looks of confusion on her fellow Autobots.

"Basically, if something goes awry inside a faulty video game console or arcade cabinet, a digital monster comes out into our world coded to the game it came from," Hector furthered.

"And no one knows about them because..." Trailbreaker responded.

"Well, that's where we come in," Hector answered. "It's our job to capture and detain these glitches whenever they show up."

"Yeah, we got that, but that doesn't answer Trailbreaker's question," Ironhide pointed out. "You'd think the public would know about this by now, so why don't they?"

"We, uh..." a nervous Miko started. "It's kinda company policy to...to wipe any witnesses' memories."

"Like in Men in Black?" Blaster asked.

"Pretty much," Five answered. "Look, we know it's not entirely ethical, but our bosses kinda want to keep a low profile for the moment."

"We can discuss it later," Optimus stated. "For now, do you know how to stop this creature from further terrorizing our base?"

"We managed to catch it before the Cons got a hold of it," Miko answered before pointing to her gauntlet. "We just need a clear shot with this and then we can capture it again."

"Then we'll have to split into two teams and search the compound for this glitch," Optimus declared. "And tread carefully, Autobots. Remember, it likes electricity."

With that, he, Hector, Tracks, Ironhide, and Trailbreaker ran off in one direction while Miko, Blaster, Warpath, and Moonracer went in the other.

* * *

"Heeeere Kremzeek, Kremzeek, Kremzeek," Miko called out as she and her team continued searching for the glitch down the hallway. "I got a nice, nickel-plated knuckle sandwich for your sparky, yellow, a-"

"Hold on," Blaster suddenly said, causing the others to stop in their tracks as he focused on something he heard from a distance. "I'm picking up something..."

"Kremzeek!"

"It's in the engine room!" the Autobot communications officer stated. "C'mon, team, let's hustle!"

The four of them quickly dashed down the hallway towards the Ark's engine room, arriving at the open doorway to see everything in complete shambles, no doubt a result of the electrical monstrosity's feeding frenzy.

"Well, this hunk-a-junk ain't-ZOOM!-gettin' off the ground any time soon," Warpath remarked.

"Aw, scrap, I just lost its energy signature!" Blaster exclaimed. "It must've escaped through the wires!"

"Where could it possibly be heading next?" Moonracer asked. "It's munched its way through everything in the base except-"

The instant the Autobot sniper suddenly stopped, a look of horror overtook her face. One that her fellow Autobots shared as they no doubt had the same thought in their cortexes.

"Teletraan 1!" they shouted in unison.

* * *

"POINT N-N-N-NINE-INE SQUA-A-UARE EQUALS FIRE DANGER! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! PLUS-L-PL-U-S-S-S T-T-T-T-" the Autobot supercomputer garbled out as the Kremzeek continued to wreak havoc on its circuitry.

* * *

The infected Teletraan 1's ramblings didn't go unnoticed, as the Kremzeek had managed to open a communications channel with Skyward Tower, a slackjawed Jake and Randy standing at the communications hub as they listened.

"ALERT! ALERT! EVIL MARTIAN FLAMINGOS HAVE INVADED SUPERMARKETS ACROSS THE COUNTRY!"

"...What the juice?!" was all the Ninja could say.

Suddenly, Kim ran into the room seemingly in a panic.

"Guys, get in contact with the Autobots!" she said. "Something's going on down in Bailley!"

"Yeah, about that..." the Dragon replied.

"CHARCOL RATIONS DOWN TWO GRANDS DOUBLE PLUS ENGARDE!"

* * *

Back down at the Ark, the two teams quickly dashed into the Ark's bridge just in time to see the Kremzeek dig its way out of Teletraan 1's consoles, holes scattered all across every piece of machinery and sparks flying everywhere.

"Ironhide, shut it down, quickly!" Optimus commanded.

The Autobot head of security then quickly dashed to the consoles, just as Miko attempted to fire a shot at the Kremzeek, only for it to bolt upwards to dodge it. Once Ironhide managed to shut down Teletraan 1, the two Glitch Techs of the group continued to fire a barrage of energy blasts at the glitch, only for it to continue to evade each and every offensive.

"Ugh, it's too fast!" Miko complained before turning to her partner. "Any way we can slow this thing down?!"

"There is a radio wave power-up in the game that does just that!" Hector answered as he pulled up his gauntlet's menu once again. "Just gotta-"

"I'll save you some time, kid," Blaster interrupted. "Radio waves are my department."

He proceeded to open his chest to reveal several USB ports inside.

"Just tune in to the right frequency," the communications officer continued.

Nodding once, Five utilized his jet boots to launch himself up to Blaster's shoulder.

"Miko, keep it busy for a few seconds!" he said as he pulled a USB cord from the end of his weapon.

"On it!" his partner responded, firing more shots at the elusive creature.

As she did so, Hector proceeded to connect the cord into one of Blaster's USB ports before taking aim at the Kremzeek.

"Don't touch that dial!" Blaster said. "Cause we got a nice and easy selection of today's hip hits!"

With those words spoke, Five's gauntlet began to shoot an onslaught of radio waves at the glitch, prompting it to stop right where it stood and place its hands where its ears would be.

"Kremzeek! No! No!" it shouted.

"Target acquired!" Miko yelled as she immediately pointed her weapon at the creature.

The young Glitch Tech fired her weapon, making its mark on the Kremzeek, causing it to start shorting out as it did before.

"K-K-KRE-E-E-EMZ-Z-Z-EEK! N-N-NOT AGAIN!" it yelled before its energies exploded out of its body.

The Techs and the Autobots quickly shielded their eyes and optics from the blast before looking down at the glitch in its true form, bouncing about and attempting to try and find something to feast on. Acting quickly, Miko pointed her palm at the tiny creature, causing it to be sucked instantly into her gauntlet's trap.

"GLITCH CONTAINED," the A.I. inside stated.

"Phew!" Miko sighed as she wiped her sweat off her forehead. "Let's make sure this guy's locked up tight this time. I do NOT want a round 3 with it."

"Thank Primus that's over," Tracks said. "That little vermin was starting to get on my nerves."

Then, without warning, a COMM device on Prime's arm went off, signaling that someone from Skyward Tower was trying to reach him. He responded by pressing a button on his arm to open communications with the base of the Infinity League.

"My apologies if any of Teletraan 1's transmissions reached you," he said. "We had a bit of a-"

"Prime, dawg, something big's going on in Bailley!" Jake interrupted on the other side. "We don't know why, but the Cons are bombarding a Hinobi Store!"

Hearing those words caused Miko and Hector's hearts to sink as their skin turned white with horror. Their worst fears came to pass, and now their friends and co workers were at the mercy of one of the most feared forces of evil on the planet.

"Optimus, that's where our base is at!" Miko informed.

"That's the other reason we came to you guys!" Hector added. "We had a hunch that the Decepticons would try something like this and-"

"Say no more, Hector, we're more than happy to help," Optimus interrupted. "But first we need to figure out how to get there."

"Uh, Prime, who-" a confused American Dragon attempted to ask.

"I'll explain later," Prime interrupted. "Tell Wheeljack to ready the teleporters for nine arrivals."

"Uh, yeah, see, whatever happened to Teletraan 1 must've spilled its way into our systems," Jake informed. "The second we started receiving those whack transmissions, the teleporters just broke down. Can you still hitch a ride with Omega?"

"No, he's still undergoing repairs after his fight with Lokar," the Autobot leader answered. "And the creature that was responsible for what happened to Teletraan 1 managed to incapacitate Jetfire and our ground bridge. What about Cosmos? Are his repairs complete?"

"Nope," the Dragon of New York answered. "Poor guy took a serious crash landing when Astrotrain shot him down again."

"Then we're running out of options," Optimus somberly stated as he placed his hand on his chin. "Bailley's a couple of thousand miles away from Utah. If we drive there, we may be too late."

"Actually, there is a way to get us all there in just a couple of seconds," Five stated.

"How so?" Optimus questioned.

"You leave that one to us, OP," Miko answered with a smirk.

* * *

A few minutes later, outside the Ark, the seven Autobots watched in awe as High Five and Miko's van shot out an energy beam that manifested into a large portal to the Hinobi Store.

"Next stop, Bailley!" Miko said from within the van.

"Then there's no time to waste," Optimus declared. "The glitch thankfully didn't manage to get to the Ark's repair drones, so they'll take care of the others while we fight the Decepticons."

The mighty leader of the Autobots then stepped towards the portal.

"Autobots, Glitch Techs, transform and roll out!"

With that battle cry spoken, Optimus transformed into his truck mode, the other six Autobots following suite with Blaster shrinking down and loading himself into Tracks, before driving through the portal.

"Aw, man, I wanted to say that!" Miko groaned.

She quickly shook off her disappointment, however, focusing on how she and Hector were going to save their friends, before Five stomped on the gas and drove their van through the portal.

* * *

The Glitch Techs' HQ had quickly turned into a war zone once the Decepticons started opening fire on them. Blasts of energy, both from the humans and the sinister Cybertronians, flew everywhere as Zahra, Haneesh, and Mitch continued to shoot their enemies from behind the rubble of their base's ceiling.

"Keep pushing forward, Decepticons!" Starscream commanded as he shot his Null Rays and Shatter shot her hand blasters down at where Zahra and Mitch were taking cover at, only for the two of them to quickly evade the offensive. "Stubborn as these humans are, they can't keep this up forever!"

"I know what'll speed this up!" Brawl responded.

The Combaticon then proceeded to transform the upper half of his body into the front of his tank mode, though keeping his legs as they were.

"I'd start screaming for your motherboards to come and save you, wimps!" he shouted as he started to advance towards the humans in his gerwalk mode.

Upon witnessing this sight, as well as knowing that his shots were basically all but bouncing off the Decepticons, Bergy quickly ran in the opposite direction right before Brawl shot at the ground of which the Tech previously stood, causing a large crater to form on the floor.

"Haneesh, speed boost!" Zahra shouted.

Nodding once, Haneesh deployed a line of speed boost arrows from his weapon onto Brawl's leg while Zahra ran towards it, readying a digital sword as she did so. The experienced Glitch Tech then ran up the Combaticon's leg, her speed increasing greatly, before leaping upward with a battle cry and landing on Brawl's turret, jabbing her weapon into it. The Decepticon cried out in pain as he started to stumble about while Zahra held onto the hilt of her sword to stay where she was and prepare herself to slice the barrel of the turret off. However, right before she could...

"FRENZY, OPERATION: INTERFERENCE," Soundwave said from behind.

The stunned Glitch Tech turned around just in time to see a large, red cassette shoot out of Soundwave's open chest before transforming into Frenzy and barrel towards her. The Decepticon Mini-Cassette managed to tackle her off of Brawl before she could do anything, landing roughly on the floor before pinning her down.

"Gonna crack that head of yours and collect what's inside, you-!" Frenzy threatened, only to be interrupted by Haneesh throwing his shield at him, causing him to stumble off of Zahra.

With the small Decepticon off his friend, Haneesh proceeded to shoot out a digital grappling hook that wrapped itself around Frenzy before throwing him upwards and releasing his weapon's grip on him. As a result, Frenzy was sent screaming towards Nitro, smashing against the side of his head and gaining his attention.

"Huh?" he asked himself as he finally stopped shooting rockets around the base.

The hunter turned to see Haneesh assisting Zahra back on her feet, narrowing his sole, yellow optic on the two of them.

"Oh, fleshbags wanna play dirty now, eh?" he asked as he positioned the turbines of his jet mode onto his shoulders and pointed them directly at Brawl. "Fine by me. I can play dirty too!"

"Wait, what are you-" Brawl asked as he transformed the top half of himself back into his robot mode.

Before the Combaticon could finish, Nitro had already activated the turbines, laughing as two bursts of air shot Brawl towards Haneesh and Zahra, whose eyes widened in fright at the sight of a two-ton robot hurdling towards them. Acting quickly, the two of them shot two portals in front of each of them and ran into them right before Brawl smashed onto the floor. Snarling in contempt for his colleague, the Combaticon got back on his feet and marched towards Nitro as his turbines shifted back onto his back.

"WHY YOU TIN-PLATED, EMPTY-HEADED, PILE OF SCRAP IRON!" he shouted before shoving Nitro onto a wall. "WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, MEGATRON'S GONNA HAVE TO PICK UP YOUR PIECES WITH AN ELECTRO-MAGNET!"

"What? So I saw an opening and I took it," Nitro defended. "AND I wasn't gonna give those geeks any extra time to run by sayin' 'Hey, Brawl, mind if I catapult your fat aft to those meatbags?' Shoot me."

"GLADLY!" Brawl yelled as he readied his blaster.

Before he could point it at the hunter's head, however, Nitro immediately grabbed it and pointed it away from him before kicking Brawl off his person. He then followed that counter by tackling the Combaticon to the floor, beginning a fistfight between the two Decepticons.

"I work with a bunch of protoforms..." was all Shatter could say as she placed a hand on her face and shook her head in embarrassment.

While that was going on, Zahra and Haneesh had managed to regroup with Mitch and Bergy, only for Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Soundwave to advance towards them, forcing them to back up into a wall.

"Oh man, this is bad, this is bad, this is really, really bad!" a panicking Bergy exclaimed before turning to Mitch. "What do we do, what do we do?!"

"Wha-I don't know!" Mitch admitted. "We can barely fight back against these griefers, I seriously doubt we can just ask them to leave, and we're probably not getting any backup anytime soon since we sent those two noobs out to get it!"

"Dude, lay off them," Haneesh defended. "They have a glitch to recapture too, you know. They'll be here."

"A glitch that, might I add, they might not have had to bag again if SOMEONE didn't bring that drone in here," Zahra added as she glared right at her team leader.

"For the last time, I'm sorry!" Mitch groaned. "It was either let that thing in here or get my face blown off!"

As the other Techs continued to argue with Mitch, Starscream, in the meantime, was doing what Starscream did best...gloat.

"Just imagine what we could gain from this base once MY conquest is complete," Starscream boasted. "Perhaps we'll weaponize their equipment for our fight against the Autobots. Or maybe we can steal these glitches they've captured and turn them into our own digital army to conquer this miserable planet! Or-"

Thankfully, his monologue was halted by a blast to the face courtesy of Zahra.

"GAH! WHO SHOT THAT?!"

The Seeker then glared down at the four humans, noticing Zahra pointing her gauntlet right at him.

"Oh, no, please, continue," she sarcastically requested. "Makes you easier to hit."

"Deny your fate all you want, but our 'ally' was right," Starscream responded as he pointed one of his Null Rays down at the Glitch Techs. "No one is coming for your rescue."

His weapon began to charge with the intent to obliterate this pesky resistance, but before the second-in-command of the Decepticons could carry out this deed, a loud, blaring truck horn caught him off guard. He then turned to his right and saw a red and blue Freightliner semi-truck driving out of a portal and gunning it straight for a now utterly petrified Starscream.

"NO! IMPOSSIBLE!" he screamed.

Before he could so much as point his weapons at this interloper, the truck transformed into Optimus Prime, who grabbed onto Starscream and tackled him through a wall. Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Soundwave were about to assist their temporary leader, only for several laser blasts to knock them on their backs. The shocked Glitch Techs then turned to their left to see Miko and Hector standing atop their van while Ironhide, Tracks, Warpath, Moonracer, Blaster, and Trailbreaker stood behind them.

"Don't worry, loves," Miko declared, imitating a British accent as she did so. "Calvery's here!"

Seeing this sight, Zahra, Haneesh, and Bergy all cheered for their allies while Mitch, unsurprisingly, just crossed his arms in an attempt to hide his own relief.

"DECEPTICONS, KILL THEM ALL!" Soundwave commanded as he, Thundercracker, and Skywarp got back on their feet.

Hearing this, Brawl and Nitro finally ceased their own fight and ran up to join their fellow Decepticons along with Shatter whilst the other four Glitch Techs used their portals to join up with their fellow Techs and their new allies.

"Autobots, pick your dance partners!" Ironhide said.

* * *

While that was going on, Optimus had managed to tackle Starscream through a series of walls before finally stopping at the training room, tossing the Seeker up into the ceiling, only for him to land perfectly on his feet once he descended towards the floor.

"I should have known this scheme was of your doing, Starscream," Prime stated as he prepared his Ion Blaster. "I doubt Megatron would have been as foolish to concoct something like this given our new allies within the League."

"Rrr, we'll see just how 'foolish' this endeavor was when I accomplish something Megatron has failed at for millennia," Starscream retaliated as his Null Rays began charging. "Claiming your head, Prime!"

"We both know that's not going to happen," the Autobot commander rebutted as he narrowed his optics at his enemy. "But you're more than welcome to try."

With an enraged battle cry, the Decepticon air commander pointed both of his cannons towards the Autobot leader and fired, only for Optimus to leap forwards to avoid the blast, an explosion being set off behind him as he fired several shots with his own weapon. Starscream was quick to act, though, and weaved out of the line of fire before throwing a punch his opponent's way. Fortunately, Optimus was able to deflect it with his free arm and smashed Starscream upside the head with the side of his blaster. His free hand then transformed into his energon axe before swinging it towards the Decepticon second-in-command, only for him to dodge it.

The treacherous Seeker proceeded to knee Prime in the metal gut, boosting himself upwards as he did so before grabbing his enemy's shoulders, intending on tossing him into the nearby supercomputer's screen. However, Optimus instantly retaliated by grabbing Starscream's left leg and swinging him up against the wall, forcing him to release his grip, and then tossing him into the screen, causing it to shatter and for sparks to fly everywhere.

Back at the main hub, Thundercracker was charging towards Miko, Hector, and Haneesh, who were unloading everything they could against the blue-clad Seeker. An idea forming in his head, Hector formed a cylindric arm cannon on his arm with his gauntlet, charging up his shot before shooting an energy blast that made its mark on Thundercracker's face. This, in turn, caused him to stumble about as his hand reached for his face in pain, meaning he wasn't able to see Warpath rush in from the side and kick him to the ground. This victory was short-lived, however, as Soundwave then came in from behind and grabbed the Autobot commando, tossing him away from the scene before turning his attention to the humans. The Decepticon communications officer then began to charge his shoulder cannon, causing the three Techs' eyes to widen in terror.

"Uh oh, scatter! Scatter!" Haneesh shouted.

The three of them activated their speed boosts and fled right before Soundwave fired an EMP blast that would have vaporized them if they were just a second too late. The Decepticon scanned the area in an attempt to locate his targets, only for several energy blasts to catch him off guard. He turned around to see Miko atop Ally floating in front of him.

"Oh yeah, that's right, I gots a digital dodo!" she gloated. "Beat that!"

Emotionless as ever, Soundwave reacted by pressing the button on his shoulder that opened his chest compartment.

"LASERBEAK, BUZZSAW, COMMENCE COUNTER-OFFENSIVE," he commanded.

Two large tapes then ejected out, transforming into Laserbeak and Buzzsaw before a surprised Miko.

"...Ah, nerds," was all she could say.

Acting quickly, Ally swooped upwards right before several laser blasts from both Decepticon minions' back cannons could hit her, prompting the two of them to give chase throughout the facility. The digital bird attempted to maneuver through several tight gaps and sharp turns in an attempt to lose her and Miko's pursuers, but to no avail, as both Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were able to easily keep up with every turn...That was, until a laser blast suddenly hit Buzzsaw right on his left wing, causing him to crash into one of the central hub's leaderboard. Caught off guard, Miko turned to her left as she flew atop Ally, seeing Moonracer crouched behind a pile of rubble, smoke emanating from her sniper rifle and giving a friendly wave to the human.

"Nice shot!" the Tech complimented as her pet evaded a barrage of laser fire from Laserbeak.

"Thanks!" Moonracer responded as she readied her weapon once more. "Just gimme a couple more kliks and I'll have that bird-brained scrapheap off your hair in no t-"

"I'd worry less about her and more about you, Autobot scum," Shatter's voice declared from behind the sniper.

Before she could react and as the triple-changer made that declaration, Moonracer was swiftly kicked onto the rubble she was crouched behind while Shatter's hands transformed into her blasters. She pointed them down at her enemy, who swiftly countered by flipping upwards, her heels cracking Shatter dead in the jaw and causing her to stumble back a bit. The female Autobot landed on her feet and grabbed her sniper rifle before swinging it like a staff at the Decepticon, who ducked underneath the offensive maneuver and retaliated by transforming her right hand back to normal and punching her in the metal gut. This caused Moonracer to double over in pain, allowing a smirking Shatter to point her weapon right at her head.

However, before she could fire, a series of heavy footsteps caught her off guard, causing her to swiftly turn to her right and for her optics to widen.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF-!" she shouted, right before a colossal, cycloptian, almost ape-like robot charged into her, sending her flying away from her target.

Moonracer proceeded to look up at her massive savior, who in turn looked down at her, which caused her to feel a bit uneasy, not knowing if this metal giant that was about the size of Grimlock was friend or foe.

"Uh...hi?" she awkwardly greeted with a meek wave.

In response, the robot closed its sole optic and grunted in a friendly manner, waving back to the now very much relieved Autobot sniper.

"Nice work, Alpha!" Hector commented as he shot a charged blast from his gauntlet at Thundercracker's face, knocking him on his back as he did so.

Moonracer then proceeded to start getting back on her feet, only for her to notice something coming towards the robotic glitch referred to as Alpha.

"Alpha, look out!" she warned.

The pet of High Five turned to his left just in time to see Brawl tackle him away from the female Autobot and onto the ground.

"WHY DON'TCHA TRY SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE, YOU OVERGROWN TOASTER!" the Combaticon shouted as he punched the digital robot in his optic.

In response, Alpha angrily slammed his head against Brawl's to force him off his person before grabbing the tank barrel on his back and lifting him upwards before slamming him harshly against the ground. The glitch then attempted to swing him against a wall, only for the Decepticon to fire said barrel once it was pointed towards Alpha's chassis, causing him to be sent flying backward and into the central hub's main consoles.

"Hang in there, buddy!" a distressed Five called out. "Help's on the way!"

He attempted to dash towards his companion, only for Thundercracker to land in front of him, causing him to slide to a stop.

"Where do you think you're going, meatbag?" the Seeker harshly asked. "You and I ain't done!"

As the nefarious machine started to advance towards his target, Hector cautiously started backing away, only to bump against Mitch, who was similarly backing away from Skywarp.

"Oh, hey there, Mitch," Five sarcastically said. "Nice of you to invite your friends over for dinner."

"LIFE. OR. DEATH," Mitch angrily snarled.

The two Seekers pointed their Null Rays down at the humans, but before they could fire, Trailbreaker suddenly charged against Skywarp, a force field surrounding him to increase the force of the impact, sending him hurdling away from his targets. Thundercracker attempted to retaliate, only for Tracks in his winged car mode to fly up from behind him and knock him onto the floor before transforming and landing in front of the two humans.

"I'd strongly suggest hiding your rather garish selves behind us if I were you," Tracks suggested.

"...GARISH?!" an enraged Mitch shouted, flames visible in his eyes.

However, before this squabble could continue any further, Nitro Zeus jumped down from above, landing in between the two Autobots before grabbing them by the back of their heads, smashing the two of them together and tossing them away like ragdolls, much to the fright of the two Techs.

"Wait, who's this guy?!" Five asked. "I've never seen this Con on the news before!"

"I don't know, but I do NOT envy whoever his stylist is," Mitch replied, pointing towards what appeared to be a rust-coated gold chain around the hunter's neck.

"The name's Nitro Zeus, geeks!" Nitro answered as he slowly approached the two Glitch Techs. "That's N as in 'neutralize,' I as in 'incinerate,' T as in 'terminate,' R as in 'rip to shreds,' O as in obliterate, Z as in...uh...hey, you fleshies mind helping me out here? What's a good word that starts with Z, huh?"

Suddenly, a barrage of laser blasts hit the Decepticon at the back of the head, causing him to grunt in pain and swiftly turn to see Miko and Ally flying towards him.

"I think 'zero' suits you well," Miko jested before sticking her tongue out at her opponent.

Letting out an enraged yell, Nitro reacted by pointing his arm cannon towards the two of them, charging it up as he did so.

"Ally, now!" Miko yelled.

Right before the weapon fired, the digital bird immediately swooped upward, causing the still pursuing and now panicking Laserbeak to be in Nitro's line of fire. He attempted to fly out of the laser blast's path, but to no avail, as it managed to make its mark and send the cassette plummeting down to the ground below. With her pursuer now down, Miko lept off of Ally and landed in front of Five and Mitch whilst her pet latched herself onto Thundercracker's face, pecking rapidly before he could try to get the drop on the Techs.

"Step aside, boys," Miko said with a smirk as Nitro started to approach them. "Me_K.O.'s got this!"

Hearing this caused the Decepticon hunter to burst into a fit of laughter.

"HA HA HA HA HA! Oh, that's rich!" he said. "This geek thinks she can tussle with the main bot? HA! HA! You know what, kid? Ya got guts. Tell ya what, I'll let you have the first shot free."

He then bent down to where his head was within eye-level with Miko and mockingly pointed at his chin.

"C'mon, right here. Gimme your best shot.

Smirking, Miko slammed her hand onto her gauntlet, causing a massive mech-suit that was about the size of her opponent to slowly form around her body. Seeing this naturally caused the boasting nature of the Decepticon before her to vanish completely.

"...Aw, scrap," was all he could say.

"Nerf this, cyclops!" Miko responded.

With that, the mech-suit swiftly but roughly uppercut Nitro, sending him hurdling upwards towards Skywarp, who let out a frightened yelp before teleporting away right before his fellow Decepticon could smash into him. This in turn caused the hunter to crash through the roof of the building, still flying upwards with no signs of slowing down.

"DIRTY, FRAGGIN', ROTTEN, FRAGGIN', MOTHER-FRAGGIN', SON OF A-" Nitro angrily shouted as he continued his trek away from the Techs' HQ.

* * *

Meanwhile, far away from the ensuing chaos, a woman named Kelly was being written a parking ticket by a heavy-set, blonde-haired police officer thanks to the parking meter she parked at to stop by a nearby coffee shop having run out no less than five minutes ago. Needless to say, this woman was not enthused with this.

"Great, now I gotta pay this damn ticked AND I'm gonna be late for work," she muttered to herself. "Wonder what else could happen at this rate."

Unfortunately for her, the universe decided to answer her question.

"KILL, MAIM, FRAG, DESTROY-!" Nitro shouted as his body smashed into both Kelly's car and the officer's cruiser before sliding through the street.

Upon witnessing this sight, both human's jaws nearly fell to the floor as Kelly fell to her knees in disbelief. Not only because her car had been totaled, but also because this wasn't the first time this has happened...or the second...or the third...or the fourth...

"I...I LEFT METRO CITY TO GET AWAY FROM THAT!" she wailed.

"...This is why I hate machines," the officer grumbled.

* * *

Back at the HQ...

"GAH! THIS STUPID THING'S TRYING TO PECK MY OPTICS OUT!" Thundercracker screamed as he desperately tried to swat Ally off of him. "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

Suddenly, the digital creature turned its head towards what was directly in front of Thundercracker and gave a squawk before finally flying off the Seeker's head. Said Seeker was about to express his relief when...

"Batter up!" Ironhide exclaimed as he swung his Forge Launcher directly at Thundercracker's chassis.

The impact was so great that it practically shot the screaming Decepticon towards a re-appearing Skywarp before crashing into him, knocking the two of them onto the ground.

While that was going on, an enraged Shatter was trying to shoot her hand cannons at these annoying humans she and the others had laid siege to, only for their speed boosts to allow them to easily evade them.

"Ugh! This is a disaster!" she shouted.

The instant she said that, Soundwave had been thrown against the wall behind her by Blaster, landing right beside her.

"THE MISSION IS A FAILURE," he stated as he stumbled back onto his feet. "WE MUST RETREAT!"

"Agreed, Soundwave," Shatter responded.

With that, the female triple-changer pointed her weapons at the ceiling, blasting a hole large enough to allow the two of them to fly out of the building, Soundwave just narrowly avoiding a dropkick from Blaster as he did so.

"Wha-Hey, wait!" Skywarp shouted as he observed his fellow Decepticons abandoning them. "Where are you rustbuckets goi-!"

Then, without warning, the purple-clad Seeker was interrupted when both he and Thundercracker had Brawl, in his tank mode, swung up against them like a baseball bat by Alpha.

"GAAAAAAAHHH!" the two of them screamed as they flew through the hole in the ceiling.

"Hey, big guy, toss him up to that hole," Warpath suggested as he approached Alpha, pointing to Brawl as he did so. "I got a-KAPOWIE!-great idea!"

Nodding once, Alpha proceeded to chuck Brawl upward towards the hole his fellow Decepticons were sent through. The Combaticon transformed into his robot mode and was ready to try and reach for his weapon, only for his optics to catch Warpath pointing the barrel in his chest towards him, charging it up as he did so.

"Hey, Brawl!" he shouted. "Tank's for stoppin' by! Ha ha ha!"

A blast of energy burst out of the tank barrel, making its mark on Brawl's chest and sending him flying up to join his fellow mechanical villains as they fled from the HQ.

"Whoo! Six down, one to go!" Warpath declared.

No sooner had he said that did Starscream practically explode through a wall, landing harshly onto the floor while Optimus approached him. Once the conniving Seeker got back on his feet, he noticed his troops from afar making a haste retreat.

"FOOLS!" he yelled. "GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT, YOU COWARDS!"

The sound of heavy footsteps then rang through his auditory receptors, causing him to turn around to see the leader of the Autobots approach him, weapon drawn, with his fellow Autobots and the Glitch Techs readying their own weapons and pointing them directly at the Decepticons' second-in-command.

"Game over, Starscream," Optimus said.

Stubbornly unwilling to admit defeat, Starscream foolishly charged towards his enemies, letting out a cry of fury as he did so, only for him to run straight into a force field courtesy of Trailbreaker. The deceitful Seeker stumbled backward and began to fall over, only for Haneesh and Zahra to quickly dash behind him and shoot two blasts from their gauntlets that formed two spring platforms that bounced their opponent right into Ironhide's fist, causing him to fall harshly onto the ground. Miko, still in her digital mech-suit, proceeded to pick up Starscream and lift him over her head before tossing him upward. While in mid-air, the treacherous machine let out a scream of terror before Alpha leaped upward, raising both of his fists together before slamming them atop Starscream's head, causing him to plummet to the floor.

Upon crashing down, the Decepticon second-in-command attempted to get back on his feet, only for Blaster to open the compartment in his chest.

"Sic 'em, Ramhorn!" he commanded.

A cassette shot out, transforming into the small Autobot rhino known as Ramhorn, who immediately charged towards Starscream as he placed an arm in front of his face in defense. It did little to help him, however, as the instant the mechanical rhino made contact with his horn, Starscream flipped up in the air before landing on his back. He tried once more to get back up, only for Moonracer to slide underneath him and place a bomb onto his back. She gave a signal to both Tracks and High Five, who fired their weapons upon the bomb, causing it to detonate and cause Starscream to be hurdled towards Optimus, who had placed both of his hands together and reeled them back.

"NO! WAIT!" the Seeker pleaded.

Once he reached Prime, the leader of the Autobots swung his fists towards his opponent, sending him flying upward towards the hole in the ceiling.

"Warpath, now!" Optimus ordered.

Upon hearing his leader's command, the Autobot commando dashed towards Starscream, still in mid-air, as the turret in his chest began to charge once again. Seeing this, the air commander cowered once more by placing both arms in front of his face, despite how well that worked last time.

"BLOOOOOOOOOOSH!" Warpath yelled as he unleashed a full blast from the turret.

Upon making impact with its target, a large explosion detonated where Starscream once was, said Seeker now being launched sky-high towards his fellow Decepticons.

"GAAAAAAAAAAH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, PRIME!" he screamed as he transformed into his jet mode and boosted as far away from the Hinobi Store as he could.

With the battle won, the Autobots and the Glitch Techs let out a victorious cheer as Miko embraced her partner in one of her signature bear hugs.

"Yeah! We did it!" she cheered. "Who's awesome? We're awesome! Who's awe-"

A sudden revelation simultaneously came to both Techs' minds, causing their skin to turn white and their eyes to widen in absolute terror. Once Miko released Hector, the two of them turned to see the absolute mess that was their HQ...which was just barely so much as even standing at this point.

"...Ohhhhhh, we are SO getting a pay deduction," Miko stated.

* * *

Soon afterward, a visibly irate Starscream trudged through the hallways of the Nemesis, burn marks and dents coated throughout his body as the scars of a most humiliating defeat continued to run rampant throughout his cortex. He was making his way for the bridge of the ship when he noticed Knock Out leaning against the doors with a smirk on his face.

"Ah, Starscream, just the bot I was looking for," he snided. "I'm afraid that I have some 'bad news' you-"

"Save it, Knock Out!" Starscream snapped as he pressed the button to open the bridge's doors, keeping his optics on the medic as he did so. "As you can clearly see, I am in no mood for any of your charades! Besides, I highly doubt this day could get much worse."

"Oh, I disagree, Starscream."

The gravely, clearly enraged voice that greeted the Seeker's audio receptors caused the energon in his body to practically freeze in horror as he slowly started to turn around towards the source, dreading what he was about to see. Sure enough, inside the bridge stood Megatron himself, his red optics glaring right into his subordinate's soul as his right hand held the circuit trap used to trap the Kremzeek, cracks beginning to form around it from the Decepticon warlord's grasp. Standing beside him was Soundwave, who no doubt made good on his word to inform Megatron of the debacle that occurred while he was away.

"I believe that your day is about to get much, MUCH worse!" Megatron roared as the circuit trap finally crumbled before his mighty grasp.

The air commander started to violently shake in fear as his superior started to make his way towards him.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, what do I do? What do I do?" he asked himself.

"He's mighty pissed, you're his whipping boy...figure it out," Knock Out answered, mockery laced in his voice.

Before he could so much as think of a retort, Megatron back fisted Starscream right in the face, causing him to fall onto the floor harshly. He attempted to get back up, only for the Decepticon leader to grab his leg and drag him out of the bridge.

"NO! PLEASE, MEGATRON!" he begged as he tried in vain to free himself. "IT WASN'T MY FAULT! I SWEAR!"

"Knock Out, I will be in need of the infirmary so I may 'tend' to Starscream's wounds," Megatron informed as he continued to drag his screaming second-in-command. "Once I am finished, you are to IMMEDIATELY resume your work repairing and reactivating the rest of the Decepticons. Understood?"

"Your will be done, my lord," Knock Out answered.

The medic couldn't help but smirk to himself once more as he watched Starscream continue to beg for mercy as he was being dragged to the medical wing, not even feeling the slightest bit of remorse for him despite how unrelenting his punishment was no doubt to be.

* * *

Back at Bailley, work had already begun on the grueling task of repairing the Glitch Techs' HQ. Phil was, of course, not exactly thrilled to see the extensive damage that was done in the ensuing battle, but, given the circumstances, as well as the Autobots offering assistance in repairs, even going as far as to have Wheeljack and Grapple teleport down from Skyward Tower to help out, opted not to let Miko's fears of a pay deduction come to fruition...Just this once of course. Optimus and Ironhide were both placing a freshly repaired console back in place when they turned to see Miko and Hector giving directions to Alpha as he positioned one of the leaderboard's screens back into place.

"Even after over two decades, this planet and its people still find ways to surprise me, old friend," Optimus stated. "It's good to know that, even now, there are still more and more heroes rising up to protect this world from the clutches of evil."

"So, whaddya think, Prime?" Ironhide asked. "Think we should give 'em the offer?"

"I do believe we should, Ironhide," Optimus answered.

With that, the two Autobots began to advance towards the two Techs as they continued their work.

"Okay, little more...little more...Stop!" High Five said to his companion. "That should be good, buddy."

With the monitor in place, Alpha gave his human friend a friendly grunt and a thumbs up before making his way to the next monitor. As he did so, both Hector and Miko noticed Optimus and Ironhide approaching them.

"Hector, Miko, you and your friends fought well," Optimus complimented as he knelt down closer to the two humans' level. "You saved our lives and managed to hold off a Decepticon incursion. You have earned both our gratitude and our respect."

"R-Really, sir-I-I mean, Optimus?" Five asked.

"Of course," Prime answered. "Which is why I would like to make you an offer."

The instant she heard that, Miko let out a gasp of delight as a smile beamed from cheek to cheek.

"You don't mean..." she said.

"We would be honored if the Glitch Techs joined the Infinity League," Optimus confirmed.

A squeal of joy suddenly escaped Miko's lips, all while her partner let out an equally enthused gasp. They would have said yes in a heartbeat, but...

"Whoa, whoa, hold on, hold on," Phil interjected as he approached the two alien machines. "Let's, let's not rush things just yet."

The look on both Five and Miko's faces could not have been more polar opposites to what they were just a few seconds ago as it seemed their hopes had been seemingly shattered.

"Look, uh, not that we don't appreciate that offer, but, see, the thing is, we're kinda supposed to be doing our operations in secret around here," Phil pointed out.

"Speaking of which, what exactly do we do with these guys?!" Mitch asked from afar as he pointed to his gauntlet. "I seriously doubt you guys programmed these things to wipe out an Autobots' memory!"

"We are aware of your...questionable methods in maintaining peace, Phil," Optimus replied. "And though we do understand you and your company's reasoning as to why, might I offer a suitable alternative?"

"All ears," Phil answered.

"While it is true that word may spread of these glitches' existence, a joint operation, I believe, may work in Hinobi's favor," Prime stated. "We have a team of some of this world's most brilliant minds on our side. If we work together, we can likely manage to figure out what exactly it is that's causing these creatures to manifest and ensure your products are completely safe and void of these shortcomings."

"Plus, think of this," Ironhide added. "The Cons know of you, your operations, your tech, AND the location of this facility. They could easily launch a counterattack, but this time, Megatron'll be leading the charge. You might've managed to humiliate ol' Screamer, but Megatron's a whole different kinda monster."

"And that's not all," Optimus continued. "Word could easily spread of what lies behind this store to other villains. Next time it might not even be the Decepticons. It could be Black Hat and his Society. Or Shadaloo. Or Cobra."

"So, basically, strength in numbers, right?" Phil asked.

"That is your people's way of saying it," Optimus answered. "So please, before you make your decision, think about what I said and what that would mean for you, your employees, and this town."

The Techs' manager knew that the Autobot commander had a point. While yes, it would mean Hinobi's operations would more than likely be known to the public, as well as the fact that the higher-ups were NOT going to be happy about this, there was the all too real threat that they would risk facing at their doorstep if he turned down this offer. As he mulled it over, he noticed Miko at the corner of his eye giving him the puppy dog eyes.

"Pleeeeeeese?" she pleaded.

After a few more seconds of thinking this through, the manager came to a decision.

"I'll have to make some calls, but I'll see what I can do," he finally said...right before a burst of purple and gray, AKA Miko, rushed in to hug her caught off guard boss, squealing once more as she did so.

"Thank you," Prime replied before turning to Hector. "We look forward to our new partnership with you."

"We won't let you down, Prime," a smiling Five replied.

* * *

The next day, after a lengthy call with the higher-ups at Hinobi Technology, they ultimately agreed to this joint venture and allowed the Glitch Techs to become a part of the Infinity League. Most of the Techs were ecstatic upon hearing the news...barring, of course, Mitch, who complained about having to work with even more 'noobs,' as he called them. Effective immediately, a new schedule was put in place for the Techs. Half of them would work their shift as normal while the other half would work their shift with the League, swapping out on a day-to-day basis so that someone was still around to capture any glitches that manifested.

Because of this, the League opted to allow the tours of Skyward Tower to be split up into groups. One group takes the tour one day, the second takes it the next. Up first were Hector, Miko, and Zahra, who were currently being shown the orbital base by Optimus and Ironhide. Five and Miko were obviously starry-eyed at the opportunity to be among the world's finest heroes and get the chance to see their base. Zahra, being Zahra, kept her usual demeanor, even though she herself was also anxious at this new partnership.

"I can promise you that you are among other brave, young heroes like yourselves," Optimus said as he and the others walked down a hallway. "All of whom are are committed to protecting the planet with the utmost vigilance."

As they were about to pass the open door to the rec room, the five of them noticed that it was karaoke night once more and caught a glimpse that made the three humans stop dead in their tracks in utter bafflement: Mikey, Marco, Penn, Cat Noir, and Ron each singing, of all things, Bye Bye Bye...dance moves and all.

"_**Don't want to be a fool for you, Just another player in your game for two ,You may hate me but it ain't no lie, Baby bye bye bye, Bye bye.**_"

"...Oh yeah, you guys are super vigilant around here," Zahra sarcastically remarked.

A metal clang was then heard, causing the three humans to look up and see Ironhide facepalming himself.

"Leakin' lubricants," he muttered.

* * *

Two weeks passed since that day, and Ironhide couldn't help but still think back to it as he sat alone in the Ark's bridge. For on that day, it was the last time he and his fellow Autobots stood together, waging their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons. The last time they were united in a bond that lasted for millions of years on the battlefields of Cybertron and Earth.

Now...such days may end up being a thing of the past.

For now, a terrible secret was unleashed upon the heroic Cybertronians. **[3]** That their leader, Optimus Prime himself, committed an act that damned an entire universe to endure the fires of a being more powerful and dangerous than any of them could comprehend. And upon hearing this secret, it split the Autobots in two.

Prowl was the first to voice his utter disgust, believing that they should demote Prime on the spot. Tracks and Mirage followed suit soon afterward. Ironhide, on the other hand, retaliated against Prowl. He knew he couldn't pretend his leader's actions weren't immoral and didn't try to, but thought he was being far too harsh on him without knowing the full story. The shouting match that ensued would have turned violent had Bumblebee not stepped in to prevent the first punch from being thrown. Regardless, it seemed as though the camaraderie between the two of them were completely shattered.

But, through either stubbornness or dedication, the old bot didn't give a damn. Prime wasn't just his leader, but also his friend. His best friend. He knew him more than anyone on this ship and knew that such an action was not committed without a good reason. So, he'll continue to fight for Prime's right to lead this team. Even if it meant burning even more bridges along the way.

Then, without warning, Ironhide's somber thoughts were interrupted when a series of heavy footsteps came from his left. He turned to see Ratchet dashing towards the ground bridge in a hurry.

"Ratchet, what's going on?" Ironhide asked as he rose from his seat.

"Prime informed me that something's going on in the Tower!" the medic answered. "Whatever it is left Hoist in critical condition!" **[4]**

Upon hearing this, Ironhide's optics widened in shock and immediately knew that, whatever was going on, the League was in trouble and he needed to do something. Fortunately, there were a few Autobots he was still on speaking terms with that could provide him with backup.

"Cliffjumper, Warpath, Crosshairs, Bulkhead, report to the bridge," he commanded as he activated his COMM device. "The League may be in serious trouble."

* * *

**[1] - As explained in Ch 1 of The Dark Phoenix**

**[2] - As explained in Ch 3 of The Dark Phoenix**

**[3] - As seen in Ch 5 of The Dark Phoenix**

**[4] - As seen in Ch 6 of The Dark Phoenix. Stay tuned, for Ch 7 will show the chaos in its entirity.**


	3. Angel Dust and Tom Lucitor

**NOTE: So, yeah, just a bit of a heads up that there is a LOT of raunchy dialogue in this one since, well, Hazbin Hotel if one of the main properties used in here, so viewer discretion is most definitely advised for this team-up.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the properties you will see here. All rights go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Infinity Verse Team-Ups

Angel Dust And Tom Lucitor: A Helluva Night

* * *

"I'm going out!" Tom called out to his parents as he headed toward the door. "I'll see you guys later tonight!"

The half-demon made his way toward the front door of his home. After the last few less than stellar days between him and Star, he needed a night to himself so he could reassess things in his life. Fortunately for the young prince, he had gotten a call from an old friend that gave him a way to clear his head for the night. However, just before he could turn the doorknob, he heard his mother's voice call out to him.

"[Where are you going?]" she asked in her demonic language.

Tom had to choose his next words very carefully. While his parents allowed him a lot of freedom for a teen, he knew that they wouldn't approve of where he was going, or who he was meeting up with for that matter.

"Just, uh, you know...out." he began before he meekly added "To...Pandemonium."

"Pandemonium?!" his parents cried out in unison

Pandemonium. The capital city of Hell where the most ruthless of demons resided. Hell and the Netherworld had always been connected, though Tom's kingdom was never fully recognized by the king of the infernal pit as a true part of it, even though they still had to follow Hell's rules. If you were to compare the Netherworld to anything, it was more Hell-adjunct than anything else, often mocked as the 'suburbia of hell'. Demons, like Tom's mother, were much different than the ones in the infernal realm, for they were born in the sub-part of Hell Demons in the nine circles, however, were corrupted souls who became monstrous upon falling there because of their past sins. It was also known that the Netherworld was looked down upon by true demons, and to make matters worse, Tom's status as a half-breed even made him more of a target for racially fueled attacks.

"Why are you going to Pandemonium in the first place?" his father questioned.

"Oh, just to see a friend," the half-demon answered, not wanting to say who exactly it was.

"[And would this 'friend' of yours happen to be that no account spider, Angel Dust?]" his mother surmised

Tom cringed when he heard the name being spoken aloud, knowing that he had been found out. Angel Dust was a cocaine-snorting, alcoholic, gun-toting, sex-crazed transsexual spider demon whom Tom had befriended. Unlike most of the demons who hailed from Hell that looked down on the prince, Angel Dust held no such prejudice toward the boy and even took him under his wing. Tom had thought of the spider-demon as a sort of big brother figure that he never had, even if he wasn't exactly the best influence at times. From getting the half-demon in trouble with the law (or at least what counted for the law in Hell) to getting into full-blown shoot outs with other demons over turf, it went without saying that Tom's friend wasn't exactly well-liked by his parents.

"But Mom, it's different now!" he defended. "Angel's been getting clean at this rehab hotel-type thing run by Satan's daughter. He wanted to see me to show that he's getting better!"

"[That demon has nearly gotten you nearly sent to prison or killed more times than I can count!]" his mother sternly replied.

"And Pandemonium isn't a safe a place, especially for you," his father added. "Do you know what they'll do to you if they found out that you're a half-demon?"

"I don't think any of them would be dumb enough to try anything against the prince of the Netherworld," Tom reasoned. "Look, I'll go straight to the hotel, see how Angel's been doing, then I'll come straight home. I promise."

Both his parents shared a skeptical look, meaning that Tom had to break out the big guns.

"Please?" he begged, his expression taking on a puppy dog look as he did.

"[...Fine]" his mother finally relented. "[But you go only to the hotel and nowhere else, understand?]"

"Yes, Mom," the half-demon acknowledged before hugging her leg. "Thank you!"

With a quick hug for both of his parents, Tom took out his scissors and opened a portal to Hell, all the while his parents feared for his well-being.

* * *

Despite the recent annual purge that just happened a month ago, the streets of Pandemonium were still filled with the demonic souls of the fallen that went about their lives. Tom made it a point as not to draw too much attention to himself, though he would occasionally get a nasty look from a passing demon. In the few times he had traveled to Hell, the half-breed prince was always shocked by the vast differences between this infernal realm and the Netherworld. Oh sure, Tom's world was a burning pit, but Hell was a different level. It was filled with massive cities that sold drugs, guns, and sexual services like regular retail goods. Demons of all sorts ranging from two-bit crooks to ancient Hell-lords who craved to control all. At the head of the unholy kingdom was Lucifer Mange, the former angel who rebelled against God.

After being cast into the pits below, the devil ruled Hell while always trying to tempt the world of men to sell their souls to him. In recent years, however, the Devil had been going to Earth in person more often than not, though he took the form of a crab-clawed red demon form that he used to battle the protector of Townsville under the alias of Him. True, the king of demons was the undisputed ruler of Hell, but this dark and terrible reputation did not extend to his daughter, Charlie. The Devil's daughter didn't quite exactly live up to her father's standards, wanting to see the good in the souls of the damned. As one would imagine, this not only didn't sit well with her father but also with the other arch-demons who lorded over the infernal realm as well. The breaking point came when the Princess of Hell announced that she was opening up a hotel to rehabilitate the damned and help them ascend to Heaven. There was talk among the demon lords to destroy the building, but they relented when a powerful demon named Alastor took up residence in the hotel and became its patron.

As Tom continued his trek down the streets toward Hazbin Hotel, he passed by a small shop with a stack of TVs all playing black and white images of a demonic clown. The clown, much like most of the occupants in Hell, was once human, but his features had been altered after arriving. Where once the man wore clown make-up had now become his skin while his normal white and red suit had turned a dark shade of the bright colors with a now larger top-hat with a pentagram on it resting atop his head. His eyes were now dark red and had piranha-like teeth that jutted out of his mouth.

"Howdy, Folks!" the demon on the screen greeted with a twisted smile. "Ya like blood? Violence? Freaks of nature? Course ya do! Y'er Hell, ain'tcha? So, why not come on down to Captain Spaulding's Restaurant for Monsters and Madmen and get yourself a plate of my famous fried chicken! Tastes so damn good that even the big man himself loves it!"

"This place is nuts..." Tom muttered under his breath as he walked away.

The half-breed prince rounded the corner and saw the massive building with the sign 'Hazbin Hotel' on it. Clearly the place he was looking for, Tom walked straight toward it. Once he reached the front door to the hotel, he gave it a quick knock, to which a winged-cat-like demon with playing card symbols on his wings opened the door.

"The fuck do you want?" the cat-demon grumbled before taking another swig of his flash.

"Uh, hi," Tom awkwardly greeted. "Is Angel Dust here?"

"Why? You here to fuck him or something?" the winged cat asked.

"What? No!" the half-breed refuted. "I'm his friend!"

"Yeah, sure ya are" the demon brushed off. "Now beat it!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" another voice from inside the hotel spoke up. "Let the kid in, will ya?"

It was then that Angel Dust arrived at the door after pushing past the other demon. The winged cat grumbled a few words as he headed back inside, allowing the porn star to properly greet his young friend.

"Hiya, Kiddo!" he said happily as he embraced Tom for a hug. "How ya been?"

"It's good to see you again, Angel," Tom replied as he returned the hug. "So, how's rehab?"

"Eh, I'll tell you later," the spider-demon brushed off. "Let's get some grub over at Spaulding's."

"You mean that clown guy on TV?" Tom said, remembering the commercial before mentally reminding himself of his promise. "Wait, we can't leave, I promised my parents that I wouldn't go anywhere but the hotel"

"Relax, kid, the joint ain't a bar, it's a restaurant. I'm sure your folks will be cool with that," Angel reasoned. "Besides, I'm fuckin' starving. All I've had today was a line of coke and the spunk I swallowed from blowing a dude on the street corner to get money for said coke."

"That's not food at all," Tom pointed out.

"Exactly!" Angel agreed. "So, let's get some real food and catch up. Come on, Tommy-boy, it'll fun!"

Whenever Angel Dust said the words 'it'll be fun,' it did not turn out to be fun at all. They were the same words the porn star had said when the two had done such things as steal cars, get into fights, and rob gas stations. Tom wasn't exactly okay with any of those things mentioned, but he wanted to be there for his friend regardless. Besides, his girlfriend would often say the same thing whenever they would do something reckless together.

"...Okay," he finally agreed. "But you have to promise me that we're just going to get dinner."

"Don't sweat it, kid," Angel answered. "What's the worst that can happen?"

* * *

The moment Tom entered the restaurant, he immediately regretted agreeing to come here. The inside of the restaurant was dirty and filled with the shouts and swears of demons of all sorts. Women in cages danced from the ceiling as bar music played in the background. The walls were adorned with strange knick-knacks such as the mummified remains of an alligator boy and stuffed gorillas. While Tom was hesitant to enter the food joint, Angel, however, was excited.

"Man, I love this place!" the spider-demon cheered. "Come on, Tommy-Boy, let's grab some seats at the bar."

"Wait, you said this place wasn't a bar," Tom said.

"Yeah, but I didn't say that this place didn't have a bar in it," Angel countered. "We'll still get some food, but I need some booze while I eat."

"Of course you do," the half-breed muttered as he followed his older friend to the bar.

As the two friends headed over to the bar, Tom had to step over the corpse of a demon with a knife jammed into his skull and left on the floor. The young prince tried his best not to look at anyone in the eye, lest he start a fight with them. Tom wasn't the one to shy away from a brawl, but he knew that if he did start a fight in Hell, he'd be overwhelmed in seconds. Once they took a seat at the bar, a waitress came up to the friends.

"What do you want?" she asked in an annoyed voice.

"Can I get a beer for me and a soda for the kid?" Angel answered. "Oh, and a plate of 40 hot wings to boot!"

"Yeah, yeah, coming right up," the waitress brushed off as she walked away.

Once the waitress had walked away, Tom spoke up once more.

"So, how have things been for you?" he asked.

"Eh, could be worse," the spider-demon shrugged. "The hotel gig ain't much, but it's a roof over my head, and it's at least got liquor."

"I thought you were going there to get clean," Tom pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm getting clean alright, Tommy-boy," Angel said with a smirk. "About as clean as I can be with a shit-ton of Colombian nose sugar hidden in my closet!"

Tom let out a defeated sigh upon hearing that. He had hoped that his friend was getting genuine help and cleaning up his act, but clearly, that wasn't the case. In truth, the young prince should've expected Angel to do something like this. More often than not did Angel say he was doing one thing yet do the exact opposite.

"But enough about me, what's new with you?" his friend asked. "How's things between you and what's-her-face?"

"You mean Star?" Tom said. "We, uh...we could be better."

That was putting it lightly. Tom may have gotten back together with Star, but recently, things had begun to feel strained between them, and that was before his girlfriend had joined the Infinity League with Marco. Ever since the battle with Meteora, where Marco revealed to the half-demon prince that he had kissed Star, Tom knew things weren't the same between him and the girl he loved. Star had been more involved with the politics of Mewni now that Eclipsa was in charge, which he'd be happy to help her with had she not kept him at arms-length during the whole ordeal. To make matters worse, the princess of Mewni had further removed herself from him thanks to something far greater.

Recently, Star, along with several of other of her teammates, had been having horrific dreams centered around a strange firebird. **[1]** After the League leaders had benched Star and the others, Tom wanted to help his lover, but she drove him away, instead further diving deeper into her work with Eclipsa. The half-demon was respectful toward Star's wishes to be left alone, but he still felt hurt none the less. When he and Star got back together, he swore that he would make an honest effort to be a better man this time around, but that didn't seem to matter since the writing was already on the wall: Star wanted Marco more than him.

At first, he didn't want to admit it to himself about what was happening, that it just him being paranoid. But it was becoming increasingly clear that Star had feelings for someone he considered his best friend, and he knew that he couldn't stop her from loving him even if she didn't want to admit it to herself just yet. It was then that Tom felt Angel's hand on his shoulder.

"You wanna talk about it?" the spider-demon asked in a gently.

It was moments like these that reminded Tom why he remained friends with the porn star. Underneath his rough, sex-obsessed, crack-smoking exterior beat the heart of someone who truly cared about others, even if he didn't admit out loud. The last time Tom and Star had broken up, Angel risked his life to leave the studio he was forced to stay in by the order of his vicious pimp, Valentino, to console his young heart-broken friend by personally visiting him and taking him on a night on the town. Granted, that night ended with the two them getting thrown in jail for arson, but it showed that Angel was clearly a better person than he let on to be.

"It's been...difficult lately...between Star and me, I mean," Tom began. "She's been helping Eclipsa run Mewni, which is great, but she's been pushing me away a lot lately. I'm trying my best to be supportive, but now I'm starting to wonder if she even wants to keep our relationship going. And it doesn't help that she's on this superhero team on Earth, so that's even less time I have with her"

"That's not the only problem yer having with her, is it?" Angel gathered.

"...No, it's not," Tom confirmed in a forlorn voice. "The truth is, I think she has feelings for someone else."

"Oh, is that right?" Angel sneered. "Who's the bitch trying to steal yer girl? I'll make sure he's got an express pass straight down to this place!"

"Whoa, whoa, easy, Angel. You don't have to do that," Tom reasoned.

"Oh, I get it, you want deniability, I can respect that," the spider-demon answered. "Don't worry, kiddo, I'll get rid of any evidence that could be traced back to you."

"No, it's not like that," Tom said in a firmer tone so Angel could better understand him. "I don't want to hurt him."

"But why though?" Angel questioned. "This jack off is making moves on your girl. You don't gotta put up with that shit!"

"Because...I don't want to stop either of them," the young prince admitted.

"...Ya lost me," the porn star said, confused.

"I know it sounds crazy, even I can't believe I'm saying this," Tom replied. "But at the end of the day, I just want Star to be happy, and if being with Marco makes her happy, then I won't get in the way of it."

"But what about you?" Angel pointed out. "What about your happiness?"

Tom honestly didn't know how to answer that at first. He was so concerned with how Star felt that he didn't concern himself with how he felt. Wasn't he allowed to be happy? He had done so much to make sure others could find their happiness, but did anyone even care if he was okay with any of this? His negative line of thinking was put to an immediate halt when he reminded himself that as long as Star was happy then he should feel happy for her.

"You think'in about breaking up with her?" Angel asked.

"What am I supposed to do, Angel?" Tom said in a defeated voice. "Star wouldn't have the heart to break up with me again. But the longer this goes on, the more we're just going to end up hurting each other!"

"Aw, kid..." his older friend said.

It was then that that Angel did something he hadn't done since he had ended up in Hell: He hugged his friend in a caring manner. It was an unexpected, though not unwelcome, gesture that Tom couldn't but help but return.

"Well, what kinda faggot-show is this?" a voice mockingly commented. "I didn't know you liked 'em that young, Angel."

The two friends quickly parted from their embrace and turned to see who had interrupted them. The person in question was, in fact, the owner of the restaurant, Captain Spaulding, who was holding their plate of wings. Even on the TV screen, Tom was unnerved by the sight of the clown demon, but seeing him in person was even more unsettling. The demon prince didn't know anything about the owner of the restaurant, though if he did, he'd only further disturbed by him. The demon known as Spaulding was once the owner of a sideshow attraction in Ruggsville, Texas that celebrated the mad and macabre. What wasn't known to the public, however, was Spaulding was a member of the notorious Firefly Family, a band of brutal killers who had butchered hundreds of people they had lured to their home.

When the police arrived on the scene to arrest, or better put, kill, the entire family, Spaulding, along with his cohorts Otis and Baby, managed to escape the slaughter and went of a killing spree in search of a safe haven. Their bloody rampage was finally put to an end when they were gunned down by the police. But that wasn't the last piece of the story, for the Firefly Family miraculously survived their wounds. Otis and Baby were sentenced to life in prison while Spaulding himself was sentenced to death. For the next several years on death row, he grew ill before being executed, and his soul ended up in the one place it truly belonged.

"Spaulding!" Angel Dust cheered. "How are ya, you sick fuck!"

"Wait, you know him?" Tom inquired.

"Angel gave me the best BJ I ever had in my afterlife in exchange for free wings," the demonic clown explained. "Ol' spider-fag here knows how to drink the gravy if ya know what I mean."

"Sadly, yes," Tom groaned, trying his best to keep that mental image out of his head.

"Spaulding, this is my buddy, Tom," the porn star introduced. "He's the prince of the Netherworld."

"Oh, so you're the half-breed, huh?" Spaulding surmised. "I bet you're gettin' all kinds of ass day in and day out!"

"...I don't know how to answer that," Tom said.

"Tommy-Boy here is dealing with a broken heart," Angel informed the killer clown. "Ya got anything for that?"

"Why, I most certainly do!" Spaulding confirmed as he placed the plate of wings. "My famous fried chicken!"

Tom was by no means a fan of fried food, despite his fiery reputation as a demon. The same, however, could not be said about his friend, who began to snatch up several wings with his multiple arms and began to consume them in erst. So, following suit, Tom picked one up and began to eat it, instantly hit with a barrage of heat and spices with the first bite. He began to cough and wheeze from the heat that burned his tongue, making Spaulding burst out in a fit of laughter at the sight before him.

"Goddamn, son, ain't you ever had fried chicken before?" he asked as he continued to laugh. "I thought the hot milk dripping from ya momma's titties would be hotter than these!"

"I'm not a spicy kinda guy," Tom answered, still coughing from the heat. "Can I get something to drink?"

"I could go for a beer myself," Angel added, still eating his wings while remaining unaffected by the heat.

"Here ya go, boys," Spaulding said, handing them a soda and a beer respectively, who already had them ready for the demons.

The two friends each took their preferred beverage from the clown demon. They then clicked their glasses together before each taking a big gulp from their drinks. However, no sooner had they consumed their drinks did they begin to feel strange. Both Angel and Tom started to feel light-headed as their vision began to become blurry. The spider-demon, already knowing what going on, attempted to reach into his pocket to grab his pistol, but the numbness that was overtaking his body had made him unable to hold onto his firearm, causing it to drop to the floor unconscious.

Tom was trying his best to fight off what happening to him, but it was a losing battle. His three eyes looked around the room in the hopes that someone would be coming over to help them, but all he saw was the blurred sights of demons either laughing at them or recording it on their phones. It was a grim reminder to the prince as to where he currently was.

"Don't worry boy, this ain't gonna kill ya," Spaulding assured darkly with a twisted smile. "But when you wake up, your gonna wish it did!"

And with that, everything went black.

* * *

Tom's head was spinning as he opened his three eyes, though it was still blurry for several moments. Once his vision refocused, he realized that he was tied down to a chair by ropes in a dark room. Sitting next to him was Angel, who was tied down to a chair as well.

"Angel? Angel!" he called over to his friend as he struggled against the ropes.

The spider-demon slowly opened his eyes upon hearing his voice. Upon realizing that he was captured, the porn star attempted to break free of his bonds along with Tom, who was also still fighting against the ropes that were still holding them. The ropes turned red as the two demons felt a rush of pain course through their bodies that made them cry out.

"Damnit, these ropes are enchanted!" Angel stated. "Who the hell did this?!"

"Who do think?" Tom scolded. "That fucking clown drugged us!"

"Why the fuck would he do that?" Angel questioned.

"Because I told him to," a voice suddenly answered.

The lights in the room suddenly switched on, revealing to them that they were inside of a large office with a large window wall that stood before a large black desk that overlooked what appeared to be a stadium. However, it wasn't the office itself that the two demonic friends were focused, but instead on the people in the room. Standing beside Spaulding, who was chuckling at the sight of the captured demons, stood a tall figure dressed in a pitch-black business suit with long black hair who was looking out the window. The figure slowly turned around to fully reveal himself to his captives. He was a tall, gaunt, pale-skinned figure with a dark red ring on his finger and a sinister grin on his face. Though Tom had no idea who this was, Angel cowered in terror at the sight of the demon.

"C-Calypso..." he stammered out in fear.

The demon known as Calypso was a force to be truly feared. The demon's origins were shrouded in mystery, ranging from being a demented ringmaster of a mad circus to being one of the first angels who sided with Lucifer in the rebellion in heaven, but what was known about demon was that he was once the mastermind behind a psychotic tournament known as Twisted Metal. The demolition derby attracted only the most insane among the human race, all of whom killed each other at a shot at the prize: A wish granted to them for anything they desired. However, the tournament was recently put to a stop when the Global Justice Network and G.I. Joe busted the underground ring and arrested several of the participants, though Calypso managed to evade capture and escaped back to Hell. **[2]**

"Ah, Angel Dust, it's so nice to see again," the arch-demon said. "And it seems you brought a friend to our little reunion."

"Uh, hey, Calypso. Heh-heh, been a while, hasn't it?" the spider nervously answered. "You, uh, you still mad about-"

"Not getting my money back?" the game master cut in. "Yes, I'm still a little cross about that."

"You took money from this guy?" Tom demanded from his friend.

"It was a loan for a new porn studio!" Angel argued. "I had to renovate the whole damn set myself since Val wasn't gonna shell the cash out for it!"

"But you didn't pay me back, did you, Angel?" Calypso pointed out. "You spent the money you owed me on booze and coke!"

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, Callie baby!" the porn star reasoned. "We can talk this over. There ain't no reason to get upset"

"Oh, I agree. I mean, it was only a few thousand," the arch-demon replied. "Which is why I decided to allow you a chance to redeem yourself."

"Really? Uh, thanks," Angel said, surprised. "So, uh, ya mind undoing these ropes?"

"Sorry, but that's not happening just yet," Calypso denied. "You see, when I said that you'd be able to redeem yourself of your debt to me, I didn't say that I was going to be nice about it."

"What do you mean?" Tom asked.

"You see, ever since my Twisted Metal tournament was taken apart on Earth, I decided that it was high time to look into some of my...other business ventures," the game master answered. "So, when I returned to Hell, I went back to hosting a new, or rather, a remake, of a sport just for the denizens of Hell to enjoy: Some good old fashion gladiator fights!"

Tom and Angel instantly realized what the arch-demon had in mind for them.

"You want us to be your champions?" the prince gathered.

"You two? My champions? HA! Now that's a good one!" Calypso scoffed. "No, YOU are going to fight MY champion. If you two win, then Angel's debts are square with me and I'll let you both go free."

"And what if we lose?" Angel demanded, despite already knowing the answer.

"Then you'll die," his captor stated. "Either way, my crowds are going to be quite entrained tonight."

"Alright, I'll do it" Angel confirmed. "But you gotta let the kid go first. He ain't got nothing to do with this."

"And rob my audience a chance to see the bastard prince of that dime-store Hell get torn apart?" Calypso refuted. "Sorry, Angel, but your little friend is dying right next to you!"

Tom then turned his anger toward the person who had brought them here.

"Why would you do this to us?" he demanded. "Angel was your friend!"

"Why? Because he sucked my dick?" Spaulding shot back. "Wake up, kid! This is Hell! there's only the fuckers and the fucked down here, and today you got fucked!"

"Spaulding, I swear to god when I get outta this I'm gonna bite your cock off and choke you with it!" Angel swore.

"I'd worry less about him and more about my champion," Calypso noted before looking over to the clown. "I assume you'll be staying for the festivities?"

"Already got my front row seat, boss man," the demonic clown confirmed before looking over to captives. "Have fun, boys!"

With that, Spaulding made his way out of the office. Once he was gone, Calypso snapped his fingers, teleporting his new fighters down into the bowels of his arena.

* * *

After being teleported into the holding room for the gladiators, Tom and Angel Dust were instantly hit with the stench of dead and rotting meat, nearly making the prince of the Netherworld vomit in the process. All around the duo were the shredded bodies of those who had tried and failed to best Calypso's champion, left to rot underneath the stadium. Tom's mind was spinning at this point. Who was this champion? What were they capable of? All these questions and more filled his head.

"Kid..." Angel suddenly said. "I'm sorry I dragged you into all this."

Tom looked over to his older friend and saw the remorseful, sullen look in his eyes. He had never seen this side of the spider-demon before. He was always swearing, snorting coke, or shouting swears at anyone who even so much as looked at him the wrong way. Very seldom did he see the porn star in such a way.

"I should've never taken you out tonight," he continued. "You were right. We should've just stayed at the hotel. Now I'm gonna get us both killed."

"It's not your fault, Angel," Tom tried to reason. "You had no idea that Spaulding would sell us out."

"Oh wake up kid, this is Hell!" the gangster demon exclaimed. "That clown-faced fuck was right! You either fuck someone over or they fuck you!"

In that, Angel was right. Tom may not have been a native of Hell, but he knew that the inhabitants of the infernal realm thrived off of betrayal, such as it was with Hell's overlord, who had rebelled against his own master which lead to him being cast out of paradise for his efforts.

"Whatever is about happen is my fault and mine alone," he furthered in a sadder voice. "You shouldn't have been dragged into this."

"Well, it doesn't matter," Tom refuted. "Even if I hadn't been forced into this situation, I still would've tried to find a way to help you."

"Thanks, Tom," Angel replied with a soft smile.

It was then that the porn star then noticed several of his guns and knives, along with other bladed weapons, laying on the floor.

"Looks like Calypso is gonna at least gives us a fair fight," Tom noted after seeing the weapons as well.

"That, or he wanted to make it more entertaining for the crowd," Angel surmised as he kicked up his tommy gun. "Either way, I ain't going out like a bitch."

Tom nodded in agreement with that sentiment as he looked over the other weapons that were available. He picked up a nearby sword that was embedded into the chest of the corpse of a slain demon. Using his own demonic power, he channeled his hellfire through the blade and ignited the sword. It was a little known fact that the half-demon prince was well trained in the ways of the sword. Ever since he was a boy, he was taught how to use a sword so he could defend himself should the moment call for it. And today, the moment certainly called for it. No sooner had he found the sword's scabbard and sheathed the blade did the doors that lead into the arena slowly opened up before the two demons.

"You ready?" Angel asked.

"No, not really," Tom admitted. "But we don't have a choice."

With that, the two friends stepped out into the area, where they were greeted by hordes of demons who cried out for their blood.

"Kar! En! Tuk!" they chanted. "Kar! En! Tuk!"

"Uh, Angel, what are they saying?" the prince asked.

"Its old demon speech," the spider began. "It means 'rip and tear.'"

"Oh...lovely."

Just then, Calypso's face appeared on the screen.

"And here they are ladies and gentlemen! Your challengers, or rather, victims, for the night, Angel Dust and Tom Lucitor!" the arch-demon proclaimed.

Boos and jeers came down from the crowds, though most of those insults were directed at Tom due to his ties to the lesser Hell and that he was a half-breed. However, Tom ignored their words and instead focused on the coming fight with Calypso's champion. It was hard to say who or what this undefeated warrior was. In fact, there was a good chance that this dammed soul didn't come from Earth, or at least, this version of Earth. Unknown to most religions, the three main realms of the afterlife, those being Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, were all interconnected to every universe throughout the multiverse. This meant that those who were dammed from other universes were sent to Hell like the forsaken of this Earth as well. In other words: Tom and Angel were fucked regardless.

It was then that the door to on the opposite side of the arena began to open.

"And here he is once again!" Calypso said to his crowd. "Your champion, the undefeated, the unstoppable, the one and only master of death..."

What stepped out of those doors was anything but human-like. It was a tall, gaunt creature with a skeletal body made of metal and dressed in a long, black cape. Under the metal pulse surging hellfire. The champion's audio receptors that he had in life had changed into long, demonic, metal horns. His robotic head had a now more skull-like visage to it, sending a chill down his opponents' collective backs. The monster's yellow, lizard-like eyes blazed with rage as he gazed upon his next pair of victims.

"General Grievous!" the lord of the arena cheered,

Grievous. That was once a name that struck fear into the hearts of whole civilizations back in the universe from which he hailed from. Once he was a great warrior made of flesh and blood who was caught in a fatal accident that nearly cost him his life. But rather than die a warrior's death, he was granted a second life by his benefactor, a lord of the Sith named Count Dooku, who offered him an escape from death and a chance at revenge. His body was turned from one of flesh into one of steel

Now a being of steel and cybernetics, Grievous was made into a leader of a grand army to challenge the corrupt forces of the Republic, but more importantly, he could now face his ultimate adversary: The Jedi. During his time as the general of the Droid army, dozens of Jedi fell to his stolen lightsabers, the trophies of his kills. However, his reign of terror came to a bloody end when the Jedi known as Obi-Wan Kenobi gunned him down with his own blaster. Shortly after arriving in Hell, he was approached by Calypso to be his champion in the arena.

"Grievous! Grievous! Grievous!" the crowds chanted.

"Uh, do we have a plan?" Tom asked his friend hesitantly.

"Yeah, don't die," Angel answered bluntly.

"So, you are the next to challenge me?" the demonic cyborg gathered as he eyed the demons. "I'm unimpressed."

"We ain't scared of ya, asshole!" Angel declared.

"Then you will die braver than most," the general answered coldly.

The gladiator then removed his cape and revealed his belt of lightsabers to his opponents. His two arms started to split into four arms that each took hold of a lightsaber from his belt before activating it, igniting four crimson hellfire blades. Grievous then got into a stance as two of his hands began to spin a rapid pace as he slowly approached his next two combatants. Tom drew his sword as Angel raised his gun and opened fire on the gladiator, who began to deflect the bullets with his four blades with ease. Tom attempted to help by rushing in, clashing his sword against Grievous's hellfire sabers, but soon it as clear that the former droid general was the superior swordsman. It wasn't before long that the demon prince was being beaten back.

The next thing Tom knew, Grievous suddenly reached out with his foot and grabbed the half-breed by his chest before slamming him to the ground. The demonic cyborg then kicked the sword away from the young prince and readied to plunge his energy blades into his prey. But before he could do so, Angel Dust jumped onto Grievous's back and jammed a knife into his shoulder before being thrown off his person. As Grievous tried to take the knife of his shoulder, Tom seized his chance by blasting a volley of hellfire that forced the general off of him, allowing him to jump back to his feet. Grievous snarled at the attack and lunged the teen again, only to be pelted by a stream of bullets.

"You forget about me?" Angel mocked.

"I'm going to enjoy squashing you like the bug you are!" Grievous exclaimed in rage.

However, before the former general could take a single step, the ground beneath him suddenly began to shake violently. Then, without warning, a mass of chains shot out of the ground that began to entangle themselves around the gladiator, who began to furiously slash at the oncoming chains as they attacked him from all sides. Confused by this, Angel glanced over to see that it was Tom who had summoned the mystic chains via a spell he was chanting. With Grievous trapped at the moment, Angel saw an opportunity and opened fire on the demonic cyborg once again, this time trying aim for anything vital on the machine demon's body. Grievous, in a fit of unbridled rage, managed to break free of his bonds and swipe at Angel, slicing his machine gun in half and nearly him along with it had he not jumped back at the last second.

Tom quickly unleashed a new wave of flames at Grievous once more, but this time the cyborg was ready. Spinning his sabers at a rapid pace, he was able to shield himself from the onslaught of fire that was coming at him. However, while he was shielding himself from the hellfire that was coming at him, he was unable to focus on his other opponent, who had drawn a pistol and took careful aim at the gladiator's leg before shooting at it, striking him directly in the kneecap, thereby forcing him to stumble and lose his balance and thereby be engulfed in the flames Tom was unleashing upon him. The crowd looked in stunned awe at the half-breed, whom they wanted nothing more than to see him die at the start of this battle, were now impressed by his skills as a warrior.

"How do you like your balls roasted, robo-boy?" Angel called out to the now burning machine demon. "Medium or well the fuck done?!"

"Angel, shut up, I'm trying to concentrate here!" Tom demanded as he poured the hellfire on the machine demon.

Suddenly, one of the general's hands sprang out of the wave of fire and snatched the half-demon by the head before slamming him face-first into the ground. Grievous then reactivated his sabers and tried to impale them onto Tom, who managed to roll out of the way at the last second, grabbed his sword and blocked the second strike with it.

"You have skill, boy, I'll give you that," Grievous noted. "But that still will not save you."

"Hey, fucktard!" Angel shouted.

The gladiator turned his head to see the spider demon coming at him with a knife. Before Grievous could react, the porn star managed to slash out one of his opponent's eyes, stunning him long enough for Tom to push back Grievous off of him once more. Keeping up the attack, Tom sliced off one of the demon machine's arm, earning him a cry of pain from his enemy. The crowd suddenly let out a mix of gasps and cheers at the sight of the two lesser demons holding their own against the arena's champion.

* * *

From his private VIP room, Calypso sneered in contempt as he watched his prized warrior being beaten back by a whore and a half-breed, but he held out hope that Grievous would bounce back and kill them both.

"Quite an interesting development, isn't it?" a voice mentioned.

Calypso turned around to face the demon who had dared to sneak into his private room, only to instantly back down when he saw who it was. Standing before him, was the lord of the Cenobites himself. His true name was shrouded in mystery, but most seem to refer to him as Pinhead. At least, not to his face, less they suffer a fate much, much worse than death. The game master was a powerful demon, but even he knew better than to challenge the king of pain. The Cenobites were known by the higher-ups of hell as the apex predators in the infernal realm with Pinhead's power said to be on par with some of the most ancient lords of the Nine Circles. Pinhead made his way over to the glass where he viewed the battle in the arena.

"It would seem that you overestimated the spider and the half-breed," Pinhead observed. "How..unlike you."

"Is there a reason your here?" Calypso asked, wanting to cut to the chase.

"There is," the Cenobite lord confirmed simply. "And it is one of dire importance."

The game master cocked an eyebrow in interest, wanting to hear more.

"As I'm sure you are already aware, our lord's daughter has recently been...disappointing, to say the least," Pinhead began. "This hotel for sinners is an embarrassment to us all and is a clear sign that Lucifer, as well as his heir, have become weak."

Calypso could see what the Cenobite had meant. He too had grown concerned about the current state of Hell ever since it's princess, the very heir to the infernal throne, had seemingly turned her back on their demonic traditions and create a hotel to redeem sinners and allow them to ascend to Heaven.

"What do you have in mind?" he finally asked, curiously.

"I've been in touch with other demons who share my views of the current situation," the lord of pain replied. "The old hard is adamant to Lucifer, but some of the other arch-demons, such as Vox and Stolus, are open to a regime change."

"This a tempting offer..." Calypso regarded. "But for now, let's enjoy the show, shall we?"

"As you wish," Pinhead agreed, though he knew that he had already piqued his interest.

* * *

Back in the arena, Tom dueled with the now three armed Grievous, and though he was now wounded and blind in one eye, the champion of the arena still held his own. The half-demon was trying his best to keep pace with the strikes of the sabers that lashed at him again and again. Angel tried to shoot out the former general's legs out from under him, but with his third arm, Grievous blocked bullets while using his other two to keep up his attack on Tom. As the battle raged on, the crowd was starting to change its views of the Netherworld prince as he fought back with everything he had. Though many wanted to see him dead, there were those in the crowd who were starting to change their view on the fight as it went on.

Seeing that his gun wasn't going to do shit at this point, Angel then saw Grievous's severed arm which was still holding a lightsaber its grasp. Angel was by no means a master of the blade, but the way he figured it, any idiot can swing a sword. So, with that in mind, the porn star yanked the saber out of the severed hand and charged into battle. Back with Tom, he was slowly being backed into the wall as Grievous unleashed everything on the boy. He would've summoned another set of chains, but for that, he needed concentration which he didn't exactly have at the moment.

"Surely you must realize, boy, you are doomed," the demonic cyborg said coldly.

"Oh, I don't think so," Tom answered. "Because I have a secret weapon."

"And that is?" Grievous questioned.

"A coked-out porn star with a demonic laser sword," the young prince pointed with a sly smirk.

Before his enemy could even question that, the gladiator felt a surprise surge of pain in his side. He looked down to see that Angel Dust had impaled his own hellsaber through his side. Snarling in rage, Grievous grabbed the spider demon by the chest with his foot and flung him across the arena. However, Tom took this chance to grab the saber out of his body when his back what turned and cut off another arm, earning him another cry of pain from his opponent in doing so. The crowd roared in excitement at Tom's attack, all the while Calypso growled in irritation at the sight before him. Now armed with both the lightsaber and sword, the half-demon prince was ready to show his opponent what he was really capable of.

Tom moved quickly while Grievous was still off-balance. As he ran, he tossed the sword over to Angel, who followed after his friend to finish the fight. The gladiator had regained his footing when he saw the two demons flanking him from each side. Before Grievous could defend himself, the two demons slashed off each of his remaining arms, leaving him unarmed in both meanings of the word. With a united cry, Tom and Angel plunged their blades deep into Grievous's chest with enough force to knock him onto his back. He was dead the moment he hit the ground.

As Angel and Tom panted heavily from the exhaustion they felt, the crowd who had just watched the saying of their champion fell silent before suddenly erupting into a cacophony of cheers for the two demons, specifically for Tom.

"Half-Breed! Half-Breed! Half-Breed!" they chanted.

"I think they like you, kid," Angel said with a proud smirk.

It was then that the door to exit the arena opened to allow the duo to leave, no doubt knowing that Calypso was fuming at this point.

"...Aw shit..." a petrified Spaulding said as he watched both Angel and Tom leaving the arena, immediately knowing the spider-demon was going to make good on his threat earlier.

In a panic, the clown-demon rushed to try and get out of the arena, shoving himself through the cheering crowd.

"C'mon, c'mon, make way! Make way! Move yer fat asses" he said as he pushed several patrons to the floor. "Clown in distress! Clown in distress!"

* * *

The master of games was absolutely livid from the sight of his champion laying dead at the center of his arena while the two demons made their way out, and being cheered as heroes no less. Pinhead, however, was amused by this turn of events.

"Such a pity," he said simply. "Whatever shall you do for entertainment now?"

"I assume you already have an alternative in mind, don't you?" Calypso surmised.

"In that, you'd be correct," the Cenobite confirmed.

He then gestured over to the door to the VIP were a figured entered the room. He was dressed in all black with a sword strapped to the side. His skin was chalk white with a mask that covered the top half of his face that was merged with his skin. His horns had grown longer while his red hair hand now grown out down his back.

"May I introduce to you your new champion...Adam Taurus," Pinhead stated.

Calypso grinned at this turn of events.

"Tell me more about this little club you're putting together."

* * *

As Tom and Angel limped back to the hotel, Tom had no way of figuring out what exactly he was going to tell his parents when he returned home, but he was happy to have been by his friend's side. Angel, on the other hand, has remained silent during the long walk back to his home. Once he reached the door, he turned to face the young price with a serious look in his eyes.

"Kid...I got a request for you," he started slowly. "Don't come back here again."

"W-what?" Tom asked, confused. "Why?"

"Why? I almost got ya killed tonight that's why!" the spider-demon snapped. "And this ain't the first time this has happened, either. I'm messed up kid, but if there's one good deed I'm gonna do in this shithole, it's gonna be keeping you from dying young because of my dumbass!"

"But, Angel-"

"But nothing!" Angel cut him off. "You go back to the Netherworld and don't you dare come back to Hell, or I'll drag you right back home myself!"

Despite his words, Tom already knew that his older friend was just trying to protect him. So, with a heavy heart, the half-demon took his dimensional scissors and opened a portal back home. Before he stepped through it, however, he looked back only last time his older friend.

"We're still friends, right?" he asked.

"Of course we are, little brother," Angel confirmed with a smile. "Now get outta here before you start making me cry."

With a smile, Tom returned to his world, allowing the porn star to recompose himself to take on his carefree persona before opening the door to the hotel. The moment the spider demon opened the door, he was instantly greeted by Charlie.

"Angel! Perfect timing!" the Devil's daughter said happily. "We've got some new arrivals"

"Is that right?" he answered. "They hot?"

"I've been told that quite a lot, actually," a voice mentioned.

Angel turned around to be greeted by the sight of three new figures. The first two were a pair of twin children who in life, despite their youth, were a pair of hired killers who cut a swath of death throughout the city of sin known as Roanapur. In Hell, the twins had taken on a more vampire-like appearance with fangs and red eyes, along with bat wings. Ever since they arrived in Hell, the twins had been roaming the streets of the capital city killing random imps and demons for fun. However, that came to an end when they discovered their new idol whom they followed around ever since he arrived. His was a man-lizard with a length of sins that could go on for miles if they were to be read out. He came from a world called Mewni, where he was once the most feared creature until his death.

"Hmm, and who are you, handsome?" Angel inquired as he eyed the man-lizard.

"Toffee," he stated. "I'm told this was the place were dammed souls could be redeemed."

* * *

Elsewhere, Pinhead re-entered his domain victorious, having secured another ally in his ambition. He took a seat on the throne placed in the center of the empty room, various bloodied hooks and chains hung by the ceiling, as he grasped the Lament Configuration placed on the throne's armrest. The instant he did, he felt a presence from behind him. Someone was in this very room with him, shrouded in shadows. Without so much as turning around, the lead Cenobite knew exactly who this individual was.

"If you have something to say, your majesty, I'd strongly suggest saying it," he advised.

No sooner had he said those words did the figure slowly walk around the throne, revealing herself to the master of pain. It was a tall woman in a tattered, dark-purple dress with two small horns, now embedded into her body after her death, on her shoulders. Her normally pointy fingernails were now red claws, her eyes were of a dull orange color, yellow surrounding her irises as opposed to white, and what at first seemed to be a head crest, but rather a black, bone-like protrusion, adorned on her forehead.

In life, she was the queen of the Dark Kingdom and the first of many adversaries of the Sailor Senshi: Queen Beryl.

Upon coming face-to-face with Pinhead, the ruler of the Dark Kingdom scowled right into his black eyes before angrily slamming the end of the staff she was holding onto the floor.

"I saw what happened in Calypso's arena," she sneered. "Grievous was to be my first lieutenant in our attack on Pandemonium. And you both allowed that half-breed and that freak to slay him! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call off our deal right now."

"You needn't worry, Beryl," Pinhead calmly stated. "I anticipated this meeting would occur after the demise of the Kaleesh general. As such, I have already arranged a replacement."

"Oh?" an unimpressed Beryl responded. "And who might that be?"

"A soul who would serve you so as to fulfill an all too common desire festering within the souls of the damned," Pinhead answered. "I promised him that, once the infernal throne had been overthrown, I would be able to have him sent to the afterlife of which the good captain who scorned him resides, so that he may finally have revenge."

"'For never can true reconcilement grow...where wounds of deadly hate have peirc'd so deep,'" a voice from behind Beryl said.

Swiftly, the dark queen turned to face this person, her hues being greeted by a man with long, grey hair, the right half of his face completely scarred, and a deep wound across the left side of his chest, which was completely exposed due to the tattered uniform he was wearing. As he began to approach the evil queen, Pinhead slowly rose from his throne, prompting a perplexed Beryl to turn back to him.

"Allow me to introduce you to your newest second-in-command, your grace," the leader of the Cenobites said. "...Khan Noonien Singh."

* * *

**[1] - As seen in The Dark Phoenix**

**[2] - As seen in part 11 of The New Frontier**


End file.
